


The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

by IeshaFox



Category: The Legend of Zelda, Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
Genre: Gen, Hopefully enjoyable, My quirk on the novelization, Some strays from the story and most being the same
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 19:44:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 38,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9919310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IeshaFox/pseuds/IeshaFox
Summary: The land of Hyrule is threatened by a malicious man who seeks to take the throne of Hyrule Kingdom by force, for himself. He seeks entry into the Sacred Realm where the Goddesses have placed the Triforce, a sacred triangle that grants any wish. The hopes of Hyrule lay on the shoulders of a young boy, who is sent across the world, hopefully to save everyone from certain death.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story I started tonight, Friday, February 24, 2017, and it was all thanks to a spurt of creativity. I hope you like it!  
> This is meant to have my own spin on things, which will be especially easy because I know the basis for the story, but not how things look, like the temples. (Mainly, I'll need the character descriptions, which will be easy enough to find.)  
> So, let us see how well I can do with this!  
> Oh, and do NOT forget this important fact:  
> This is ONLY a fanfiction novelization. I wrote this, and intend for NO profit for my work, none. It's meant for reading, and for people to enjoy and ONLY that.  
> So, with that said, do so: Enjoy!

Hyrule lay silent as dusk  
settled in, the moon rising  
to become the only source of light.  
Hyrule Field, the nexus for the  
major cities, villages, and  
other habitable locations lay  
dormant for only a few moments  
before the strange creatures known as  
Stalchildren woke. They erupted from the  
ground, and began to wander like they did  
every night, their movement staggered, and  
slow. Meanwhile, ghosts, known as  
Poes, floated above, watching for  
anybody to come by, to be killed.  
But, they were the only living things  
in all of Hyrule moving, for the people  
were off to sleep, nestled away in their  
homes, whether they were built of  
twigs, or made into a full  
palace.  
One being, however, could never  
sleep, and this being was known as the Great  
Deku Tree.  
Within the tree's home, the  
Kokiri Forest, the children who stayed  
children their entire lives, also  
slept while their guardians, the  
fairies did the same, all  
watched by the tree.  
One particular boy lay in a  
bed, without a fairy to watch over  
him. This boy's name is Link.  
The Great Deku Tree stretched  
his branches outward, letting them  
soak in the warm wind, all the while  
a stinging pain came from his roots  
deep beneath the forest's surface.  
"Navi," the tree called out.  
"Navi the Fairy, where are you?"  
This was the strangeness of the Deku  
Tree's voice, something that  
nobody could hear with their ears, but in  
their minds.  
Suddenly, a fairy floated before  
the tree, a ball of light with wings  
that floated in front of him.  
"I'm here," Navi said, rising  
upward to make herself heard, for the  
voice of all fairies was small  
and squeaky.  
"I need your help, Navi,"  
the tree whispered in her mind.  
"What can I do," Navi  
inquired.  
"The boy, Link, requires a  
fairy, for he is of age now."  
"But, all Kokiris get a  
fairy when they're born," Navi  
responded, unsure of the Deku  
Tree's wisdom in this.  
"The time was not right, for Link was  
not ready when he was born. Please,  
Navi, you must hurry. I see  
darkness coming to Hyrule, and you must  
aid our only hope."  
Nodding, Navi flew  
backwards, and out of the clearing to find  
Link.  
Before she got too far, the  
Great Deku Tree gave one  
final order, "Find Link, and bring  
him to me, that he may awaken, and  
save us all."  
Meanwhile, across all of  
Hyrule, a man let himself enter  
into a valley's fortress, followed  
by an army of women.  
Once within the walls of the  
fortress, the man turned, and spoke  
to his guards.  
"Are they in place?" he asked.  
One of the women, of the race of  
Gerudo, stepped forward, and bowed  
to him. "King Ganondorf," she  
said, "Everything is in place. We  
need only wait, then the guardians  
of the stones will be free for us to take."  
"Good," Ganondorf nodded, and  
looked to the heavens above. The  
symbol of a triangle on the back  
of his hand burned fiercely. "Then  
we will watch as Hyrule falls  
to us. All the races will bow down  
to the Gerudo!"  
The bodyguards turned as one,  
the king of their race had finished with them  
for now, they exited, off to train more.  
For that's all the Gerudo seemed  
to do, train.  
And in their midst, a young Gerudo  
girl planned to thwart this king.  
Within Kokiri Forest, the day was  
just beginning when a glittering ball of  
light flew into a treehouse  
separated from all the rest. Within, a  
boy of eleven years, was shuddering,  
sweat pouring down his brow as a  
nightmare wracked his body.


	2. Just Another Normal Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Events are in place, but the time is not right. So, let's follow our young hero-to-be, before he becomes one. (Because, let's face it: We all know he does. And if you do not know, don't read the summaries...)

I've always hated my life in  
Kokiri Forest.  
From the day I was born, I've  
endured nothing but ridicule, and  
pain, most of it given by the Kokiri  
boy, Mido.  
Everyone knew he did what he  
did to me, kicked me around both  
physically and mentally, but they did  
nothing about it. They just watched, and  
gave me a sympathetic look  
while Mido's back was turned,  
for nobody got on the wrong side  
of Mido for fear he'd unleash his  
wrath upon them too. Not instead of  
me, because that was his favorite pastime,  
bully me.  
"You're not a real Kokiri,"  
he'd sneer at me daily. "You  
don't belong here. You don't even  
have a fairy."  
And yet, here I was, living in  
a magical forest, not fitting in with the  
other kids, and being picked on.  
He was right, and I knew it.  
I didn't belong here, because was  
turning 11 years old in just a  
few weeks.  
Today, however, seemed like it was the  
worst, until I got to the safety  
of the Lost Woods, where I just  
wandered. I never could get the layout  
of the deep forest, because it never stayed  
the same. I just loved it, because I  
loved the woods.  
Within the main area of Kokiri  
Forest, I passed Mido, as  
usual, who scowled at me. Then  
the Know-It-All brothers who were  
in a fierce argument with Fado.  
"Link," called a familiar,  
feminine voice, and I turned.  
"Saria," I blinked in  
surprise.  
Saria was my childhood friend,  
and someone I had a little, well,  
crush on. (But, I was sure not  
to let Mido know of this.)  
I kept my face from turning  
red, just barely, as she approached,  
and smiled warmly at me.  
"Off to the woods again, to play with the  
Skull Kids?" she asked.  
"I don't know about the second  
part of that, but yes, I'm headed  
there."  
She nodded in acknowledgement,  
"Maybe you'd like to practice with the  
slingshot as well? I know a great  
place to do so," she winked at me.  
Asking things like this were Saria's  
way of inviting herself along on one  
of my excursions. And while I was  
not one for company, I couldn't resist  
her.  
"All right, but I think we are  
thinking of the same place."  
The two of us headed off, passing  
Saria's house, where a young boy was  
moving rocks out of a patch of  
grass. He looked exhausted, I  
stomped beside him, and took hold of a  
large rock.  
"What are you doing, Miko?"  
Saria asked.  
"I must have said something wrong to the  
"boss," because he made me do this,"  
he responded, nearly toppling  
over as he attempted to move the  
rock he and I were holding.  
"I've got it, thanks Link,"  
he said, and took it off of my hands.  
"I would really like to punch Mido  
right in his small, sneering face,"  
I grumbled as Miko went his own  
way, his task completed, and Saria  
and I continued to the woods.  
Once within the woods, I pulled  
out my slingshot, and strapped a  
makeshift quiver filled with  
deku seeds to my belt. Saria  
took the lead then, having memorized  
any possible lineup for the forest, so it  
seemed. She went with such confidence  
that that was the only possibility.  
After a short walk, listening to the  
sound of the trees around us creak in the  
wind, we entered a clearing where  
several targets were strung up along  
a few posts spread out in open  
space.  
This was one of the few places I  
went for refuge, and sometimes Saria  
would join me. But, today we were not  
alone, for within the clearing stood six  
Skull Kids.


	3. Archery With Saria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link and Saria have some alone time, and what's a good way to spend alone time with your childhood friend? That's right, archery in a forest with a very ominous name.

The Skull Kids are a friendly  
race, but there are many legends about  
who, or what, they could be. I was  
one of the people that believed that they are what  
the Kokiri become when they get  
lost in these magical woods.  
Granted, the whole of Kokiri  
Forest, including the Lost Woods  
are magical, thanks to the Great  
Deku Tree, but still. That's why the  
paths shift all the time, because of the  
magic. If one were not careful, they  
could become lost within minutes, hence  
the name.  
The Skull Kids already in the  
clearing watched as we entered, and one  
clapped its hands, recognizing us.  
Its lips formed a smile, if you  
could call its grotesque facial  
expression a smile, and the group  
backed away, noticing our  
intentions.  
"Is it just me practicing, or,"  
I left the question open, and Saria  
nodded.  
"Afterwards I'll join you, see who  
is the best."  
"Oh, there's no doubt about the  
answer to that," I scoffed, grinning  
stupidly at her. "That's got to be  
you. You're the best archer in all of  
Kokiri Forest. And the best  
musician." This last bit I  
lowered my voice, almost to the point  
of a whisper, though, I was not quite sure  
why I did so.  
Saria's cheeks turned  
scarlet, like they always did when  
I praised her for her talents.  
"I'm only an amateur,"  
she protested, but I shook my  
head.  
"Someone who plays as good as you  
is obviously not an amateur."  
I prepared my slingshot, and  
got into my usual stance, my feet  
placed apart, my muscles as  
taut as the string on the slingshot.  
I aimed at one of the targets, and  
let loose the deku seed. It  
struck home in the center of the  
target, and Saria clapped in  
congratulation, smiling at me  
encouragingly.  
I continued to aim, and fire at the  
targets scattered about the area, but  
most of my shots were not positioned  
properly, and so I missed a  
couple, like usual.  
"You're doing a lot better,"  
Saria said, "But, I still think your  
stance is a bit off."  
"What do you mean?" I asked,  
demonstrating the stance.  
"Your feet are too close  
together, you have to be like this," she moved  
in front of me, and fluidly  
placed her feet how I've seen  
others do it.  
"But, this is the way I've done  
it my entire life," I say.  
"Or, my entire archery life."  
"Which has been eight months,"  
Saria pointed out.  
"And the way I do it is just,  
comfortable for me."  
For a moment the two of us locked  
gazes, and I almost got lost in the  
depths of Saria's blue eyes.  
From the corners of my eyes, I could  
just make out a few stray strands of  
her vibrant green hair fluttering  
around her pretty face, blowing in  
the gentle wind.  
I had been told, several times,  
by several different people, that my connection  
to Saria was what elicited Mido's  
dislike for me. I just thought it was because  
I was an outsider, or so I was  
told.  
"So, let's see if you're  
good enough to beat me," Her words brought  
me out of my reverie, and I shook  
slightly. Saria winked at me  
playfully, and brought out her own  
slingshot, readying it for the friendly  
competition.  
"You know I'm going to lose,"  
I sighed, but prepared my slingshot  
as well.  
The spectating Skull Kids  
jumped, and clapped gleefully.  
I suspected that the Skull  
Kids were so nice, especially right  
now, because of how Saria was. Her  
kindhearted nature was so infectious  
at times, that it was not funny.  
"Three," Saria said, raising  
her slingshot to her shoulder. I  
followed suit.  
"Two," my breath caught in  
my throat, and I pulled back  
on the string, my eyes fixed on  
the target in front of me.  
"One," Saria paused, taking  
a deep breath, and the moment seemed  
suspended in time, the two of us  
holding slingshots to our shoulders,  
and about to fire them.  
"Go!"  
It felt like minutes, but our  
little competition lasted only one,  
ending when our makeshift quivers  
were empty of Deku seeds, all  
of which had struck, or passed, the  
targets that had been set up for  
practice out in these woods. And the  
winner? Saria, like I had  
expected. But, for me, it was not  
a matter of winning or losing, not when  
it came to Saria. Just having her  
around, and being with her, was what made  
things good for me. It made me  
happy.  
After we had collected the seeds,  
and returned them to our quivers for  
later use, Saria came up to me  
holding something in her delicate hand.  
"Link, I," she paused, standing  
before me. "I know it's going to be  
your birthday soon, and I wanted  
to give you something, to remind you of  
me."  
"Saria, you know I need nothing  
to remind me of you," I said. What  
I didn't say, however, was:  
"I've got an image of you  
burned in my mind." While this would  
probably have been acceptable, I  
think, I refrained anyway.  
"But, I wanted to get you something  
anyway." she insisted, "Think of  
it as an early birthday present."  
Then she revealed what it was,  
a small, greenish pouch.  
"I made it myself," Saria  
explained, "I made it with  
fabric, and magic. You can fit  
anything inside it, and never have  
to worry about water-damaged  
equipment again."  
I threw my arms around my friend,  
a smile plastered across my face.  
"Thank you so much, Saria,"  
I almost sobbed.  
She was the sweetest person,  
to think of someone like me. All she  
did, as I thanked her, I don't  
remember how many times, was pat my  
back and smile some more.  
"Happy early birthday,  
Link."  
After receiving the pouch from Saria  
we made our way back to the  
village in the forest. I had gotten  
so lost in our archery that I lost  
track of time. The sun was dropping  
behind the trees that marked the edge of  
Kokiri Forest, and day was fading  
into night. We had spent all day  
out here, in the Lost Woods,  
away from everyone else.  
Our walk back was silent,  
and Saria went as far as my  
treehouse, hugged me, and went  
home.  
Meanwhile, I climbed the  
ladder, and crawled into the little hut  
made of sticks and leaves.  
Without any idea of what to do  
next, I laid down on my  
bed, pulled the blankets up to my  
chin, and went to sleep.  
Days passed to nights, and I  
repeated a similar, if not  
completely the same, routine,  
spending as much time as I could away  
from the village, and Mido, and  
finally, the night before my birthday  
came.  
Saria came to visit that night,  
bringing with her a rabbit she had stewed  
for her own dinner. She wanted  
to share this meal with me, I assumed.  
The two of us sat together outside  
my house, chewing on roasted  
rabbit, and chatting about nothing in  
particular: The events of the  
village, Saria's music,  
what the Know-It-All brothers had  
come up with for their next scheme,  
(they were always planning some sort of  
devious plot against someone in the  
village. They were natural-born  
pranksters.) By the end of the night,  
when the moon shone down on us, and  
made Saria's hair almost glow,  
she stood, and drew me up along  
with her.  
"I've had so much fun, hanging  
out with you, Link." she said, giving  
me a warm, tender hug.  
"Me too, Saria," I  
replied, and I meant it. "I  
wouldn't trade you for the world."  
"I'm sorry, but I must go."  
she said after a moment, both of us  
holding the hug longer than was  
probably necessary. "You should get some  
sleep."  
"Me, sleep?" I asked.  
"I couldn't, even if I tried."  
"Please try, especially tonight?  
For me?" she pleaded.  
I sighed. "All right. I'll  
try."  
"Thank you," then she did something  
that nearly made my heart stop.  
She leaned forward, and pressed her  
lips against mine in a passionate  
kiss.  
"Good night, Link," she  
whispered, pulling away. "And  
happy birthday."


	4. Not-So-Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's a better way to start your birthday, than by having a nightmare of someone you don't even know, someone yell at you, and confronting your arch-nemesis, or, your childhood arch-nemesis... Well, see what Link must endure before his eleventh birthday ends.

Rain spattered against my hat,  
and against my green tunic as I  
stood at the edge of the treeline,  
atop a hill. Beside me, a  
flickering ball of light with wings  
hovered, a shocked expression on  
both our faces.  
From our vantage point, looking  
out across Hyrule Field, (How  
did I know this place?) we could  
see a man riding on horseback  
toward us.  
Suddenly his steed reared back,  
neighing as it lifted its front  
legs. On its back, a man with  
strangely colored eyes looked  
at me.  
Directly at me.  
"Please, for the love of the three  
Goddesses," I prayed, "Tell  
me, please, that he's not looking  
at, or for, me?"  
Navi, (Who is Navi?)  
piped up, her statement unhelpful,  
"He is."  
His gaze met mine, and my  
entire being just, froze. I could not  
move, I was terrified.  
And that was when I heard a small,  
high-pitched voice calling my name,  
shouting at me from so far away.  
"Link, get up, you lazy child!"  
As it turns out, despite all  
my hopes, there had to be one thing,  
just one, to mess up my eleventh  
birthday. It wasn't the  
nightmares, again, and it wasn't the  
surprise I got upon waking.  
It was Mido, like usual.  
But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  
This morning, I woke from a  
nightmare, another one, sweating  
pouring down my face, and a fairy  
flitting back and forth throughout my  
small treehouse.  
"Can Hyrule's fate really  
depend on such a lazy kid?" the  
fairy was ranting. "I mean,  
seriously! I fly all across the  
forest, and it takes me twenty  
minutes just to wake you up!"  
"Okay, okay!" I raised my  
hand in surrender, "Give me a  
break! I was," I stopped myself,  
my hoarse, groggy voice dying  
in my throat.  
"You were," the fairy prompted,  
hoping I'd finish my apology.  
But, I had stopped, because I  
recognized her looks, her  
voice.  
She was the fairy from my dream.  
But, I didn't have a fairy,  
not in real life. So, this must be  
another dream, right? A dream within  
a dream, people can have those, right?  
When I inquired as to whether I  
was in reality, the fairy just blinked  
at me in confusion.  
"Look, I came here because the  
Great Deku Tree sent me, and  
he told me that he would like to see you,  
now." the fairy said. "And my name  
is Navi, by the way."  
"I know," I said, getting up,  
and rummaging around in a pile of my  
meager belongings, and pulling on my  
hat, boots, and tunic, all of  
different shades of green.  
"How do you know that?!" Navi  
demanded.  
"Long story," I looked  
away from her, (her light's a little  
too bright anyway.)  
Dressed in what I hoped would  
be formal attire, because it was my  
only outfit, I set out, leaving  
my treehouse to find a familiar  
face waiting at the bottom of my  
ladder.  
"Good morning, Link!" Saria's  
voice floated on the morning air.  
Without caution, I leaped from the  
ladder, and landed neatly next to her,  
Navi floating down to hover by my  
shoulder.  
"You seem to have a fairy,"  
Saria observed. "Is there something  
I missed, that you have not told me?"  
"She just came today," I  
replied.  
"I'm Navi," the fairy  
introduced, fluttering a wing at  
Saria in greeting.  
"I'm Saria, nice to meet  
you, Navi."  
"Apparently the Great Deku  
Tree called for me," I told  
my friend, "Although, I'm not sure  
Mido will let me through."  
"He will let you through, I  
promise." Saria said. "And again,  
happy birthday."  
That's how you know someone cares, because  
they will look as beautiful as Saria,  
and they'll tell you happy birthday  
three times, at least.  
I wandered the paths of the  
villages, hopping the little stones that  
floated within the little pond, well,  
it wasn't very little, and went to the  
pathway to the guardian of the forest.  
Said path was, like I thought,  
blocked by Mido.  
"Get out of the way, Mido,"  
I snapped at him, my courage  
about as high as it would get.  
"Ha! In your dreams, Fai,"  
he cut himself off, his mouth snapping  
shut so fast, I heard his teeth  
smack against one another. He was about  
to call me one of his favorite  
insults: Fairyless, when his gaze  
fell upon the fairy by my side.  
He was speechless for almost five  
minutes before he managed to say,  
"I, I can't let anybody through,  
not without the proper equipment. Show  
me you have a sword, and a shield, then  
I'll let you go through."  
"What?" I cried out, "You have  
to be kidding me!"  
"That's not my rule," Mido  
said, still recovering from his shock.  
Navi really sent him reeling, so  
much so that he was not even aware that he  
wasn't looking tough in the face of the  
other Kokiri that were watching.  
Which, unfortunately, there were none.  
"Then whose rules are they?" I  
demanded, glaring at the other  
Kokiri.  
"The rules of the Great Deku  
Tree himself." Mido replied,  
straightening. Obviously he was  
back to normal, just like I hoped my  
day would be.  
After staring him down, I finally  
realized that I wouldn't get anything  
out of Mido, even if I did my  
best to bully him into doing what I  
said. And when I say, "my best,"  
I don't mean too much, because  
Mido's the one that usually bosses  
people, especially me, around.  
So, I went back the way I  
had come, and met up with Saria once  
more.  
"What did he say?" she  
asked as I arrived at her side.  
"Well," I started, "I was  
right, that he would not let me pass  
through. But, you were right as well, that he  
will let me by."  
"Then what?" she pressed.  
"He says that the Great Deku  
Tree told him, nobody can pass  
unless they have a sword and a shield."  
"I know that there are both, somewhere  
out here in the forest." Saria  
steepled her fingers under her chin,  
a gesture I thought was very beautiful,  
like the rest of her, a movement that she  
could do with such fluidity, it made  
me feel jerky, and imperfect.  
"I think the shop is still selling a  
shield, and somewhere there might be a  
sword. It's a practice  
sword, but it'll still work."  
"Yeah, it'll still work," I  
answered, "Except for the very obvious  
problem with all of this." I glared  
past Saria, (I could never glare  
directly at her, it was just too  
impossible. Plus, I could just  
barely see Mido across the forest,  
so that helped me release my inner  
rage.)  
"What is that problem?" she  
asked.  
"I don't exactly know how  
to use either of those."  
"Luckily for you," Navi, who  
had been silent this entire time,  
chimed in, "There's a practice  
grounds nearby."  
"And by, "nearby," how close  
are we talking?"  
Once shown the training grounds for the  
use of a sword, I started off for  
my first destination.  
Before I enter the clearing where the  
Great Deku Tree stands, I must  
arm myself.  
So, let's find me a sword,  
and a shield.


	5. Sword And Shield

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link is beginning his very big adventure by starting out small. Who knows when his reckless actions will get him killed.

Turns out, Saria was right about the  
shield.  
Before going out on some grand  
adventure to find both the necessary  
items, I went back to my house,  
and rummaged in my pile of junk.  
Eventually I came up with a red,  
three yellow, and four green  
Rupees. I had a whopping 39  
rupees to my name, and I sighed in  
frustration as the little gems gleamed in  
the sunlight spilling through one of the  
open windows.  
I must have been lingering in the same  
position for a little longer than necessary,  
for Navi beat the side of my head  
a couple times with her wing. "Hey,  
are you okay?"  
I blinked, standing up. "Yeah."  
was all I could manage.  
At the shop, I looked around,  
admiring some of the things on sale,  
none of it cheap enough for me to buy.  
On a shelf behind the counter lay  
several bags of Deku seeds.  
The fact that the local shop sold  
these was very convenient, especially for  
someone like myself. It's a difficult  
task, wandering around, and trying to find  
stray Deku Seeds.  
And beneath the bags of Deku Seeds?  
Perfect!  
My eyes caught sight of a  
wooden shield that was, ironically,  
the right size for wearing on my  
eleven-year-old back.  
"How much is that shield?" I  
asked the shopkeeper.  
"That shield there?" he asked,  
pointing to it.  
"Yes."  
"It costs 40 Rupees."  
I swore under my breath, then  
sighed. "All right."  
After explaining to the shopkeeper  
what I was doing, I backed out, and  
reported to Saria, who was standing in  
front of her house.  
"How did it go?" she asked.  
I told her how much it cost, and  
she smiled.  
"Think of this as another present,"  
she said, and pulled out another  
Rupee, a red Rupee.  
I was speechless, unable  
to comprehend her generosity.  
"Saria," I finally managed,  
"You,"  
She silenced me, taking my hand  
in both of hers, and placing the  
Rupee against my palm.  
"Take it." she remarked. "And  
keep the change."  
With that, it was back to the shop, where  
I bought the shield, completing step  
1 of passing by Mido.  
The wooden shield was bigger, and  
heavier, than I would have expected.  
"Might want to get used to it,  
before you go fighting things," the  
shopkeeper cautioned as I left.  
Followed by Navi, I started  
to make the trek to where the training  
grounds were, going along a similar  
route if I were headed to the Lost  
Woods. The shield was strapped  
across my back, and as I moved up  
some of the hills, the weight of the wood  
nearly sent me tumbling backward,  
back to the bottom.  
Finally, I reached a narrow hole  
in a line of fencing. Behind said fence  
I could hear a rumbling sound, and  
peering through the hole, I could see a  
boulder.  
A very, very large boulder. One  
bigger than me in every aspect of the  
word "bigger."  
"I am doomed," I said,  
putting my head in my hands. "I  
cannot make it passed that thing!"  
"Yes you can," Navi said,  
trying to coax me through the hole.  
The hole which was a little smaller than  
I was.  
Well, here goes nothing, I  
thought, kneeling down, and beginning  
to worm my way through the entrance.  
At the end of the small tunnel,  
I emerged in a large fenced-in  
area where a boulder was rolling around  
of its own accord. A sign read:  
Kokiri Training Grounds  
Please be cautious when testing  
your strength here, very dangerous!  
The words, "very dangerous" were  
marked in red.  
Across the grounds sat a small,  
wide treasure chest gilded in  
green.  
I didn't know exactly what  
came over me next, because it  
felt so impossible. Time felt  
like it was slower when I ran forward,  
Navi crying out in shock, and  
worry.  
"Link, what are you doing?"  
But, I didn't hear her over  
the adrenaline suddenly racing through  
my veins.  
I felt like this was natural,  
like I was born to do what I was just  
about to do.  
I leaped forward as the boulder  
rolled into my path, and grabbed  
onto its rounded edges, slipping  
off of it, nearly being squished beneath  
the rolling death-trap.  
I picked myself up off of the  
ground, and tried again as the boulder  
came my way once more, and this time,  
I held tight to it, and rode it  
to the other side.  
Amazingly, I reached the  
treasure chest without being squashed  
flat against the grass, and when the  
rush of adrenaline finally faded,  
I found myself pulling the lid of the  
chest upward, its latches clinking  
against the side of the now open chest,  
revealing the treasure inside.  
Nearby, in an alcove cleverly  
hidden, a sign flashed in deep  
neon:  
Congratulations! You found the  
Kokiri Sword as your reward  
for completing the test of these training  
grounds!  
My very own sword.  
The hilt seemed to magically  
fit in my hand, and I raised the  
blade to the sky in triumph.  
It almost felt, right, to hold a  
sword.  
This was very strange because, what would  
I do with a sword? I couldn't leave  
the forest, right? I'm a Kokiri,  
and if I leave the forests, I'll  
die.  
I discarded this thought, and made  
my way, much more carefully as to not  
make Navi go into the fairy version  
of a coma.  
I had my two items, and now,  
I was ready to go meet the Great  
Deku Tree, the guardian of the  
forests.  
When I returned to Navi's  
side, she began to scold me with many  
words of worry, telling me how  
stupid I was to be doing something like  
that.  
"What were you thinking?" she cried,  
"You could have gotten yourself killed  
doing something like that!"  
"Hey!" I protest. "How  
else was I going to get across? The  
boulder was going too fast for me  
to sprint through, and,"  
I didn't know how to explain it,  
so I just let the subject drop,  
and the two of us headed back to the  
guarded pathway.  
It's time to rub Mido's face  
in what I've done.


	6. The Great Deku Tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's going to take a little more time to bring Link to the realization of his role in things, but the Deku Tree's doing just fine to shape his mind properly. Now, all that can be done is to hope.

"You always get the attention! I have  
been standing here for ages, and he's not  
called for me, not for anything!" Mido  
was yelling at me. "What could he  
see in someone such as you, a fairyless  
outsider!"  
I didn't know what came over  
me, but I felt myself launching  
forward, and wrapping my childish hand  
around Mido's neck.  
"Link, stop!" Navi shouted.  
The two of us were wrestling on the  
ground, with Navi doing her best  
to call for help. A red mist was  
clogging my vision, and preventing me  
from seeing anything at all as I  
did my best to murder my  
childhood nemesis.  
Finally, someone, or something,  
caught the back of my tunic, and  
dragged me backward, and threw me  
on the ground.  
Saria was the only one who had  
arrived to stop the fighting, and she  
wasn't even near where we had been  
fighting. It was impossible! She  
couldn't have thrown me, so what  
happened?  
"I should have known you would done  
this," Saria walked to stand over me.  
What hurt the most in her gaze,  
her tone, her actions, was the  
disappointment she showed.  
I tried to get up, and she shook  
her head, pushing me down again.  
"Link," she leaned down, her  
face by mine. "What is wrong?"  
I couldn't speak.  
"This is not you! The Link I  
know, wouldn't be like this. He would be  
calm. You wouldn't succumb to his  
insults, so, what's wrong?"  
She reached down, and helped me  
to my feet, then went to help Mido  
while I contemplated my answer.  
What was wrong?  
"You go to the Deku Tree, and  
I'll tend to Mido." The   
self-appointed Kokiri leader was  
unconscious.  
With a heavy heart, because of my  
actions, I passed along the path,  
where little plants popped up out of  
patches in the grass. Strange  
mouths appeared, and opened,  
attempting to either bite, or eat me.  
I paid them no attention, and  
continued on my way, walking  
slowly.  
Finally, after what seemed to be an  
eternity, I saw the end of the path,  
and the Deku Babas, the strange  
plants, shrank back into their  
hiding places.  
"Link, please step forward."  
On legs that felt like lead, I  
moved forward, the light glinting  
impossibly off of the wooden shield  
strapped to my back.  
"Great Deku Tree," Navi  
darted through the air, and flew up to the  
massive tree that dominated the  
clearing.  
The Great Deku Tree towered  
above every other tree in the forest, and  
normally he looked green, and  
healthy. But, today, he looked far  
from healthy.  
Even I, who's not studied  
anything about plant-life, other than  
to avoid the Deku Babas, could  
tell that the Great Deku Tree,  
our guardian, was very ill. Maybe  
he was dying.  
"I'm afraid your concerns are  
well-placed, young hero." the tree  
spoke, his voice booming through my  
mind.  
How had he known what I was  
thinking?  
Of course, you idiot! I  
scolded myself for not remembering.  
The tree was magic, and so he could  
speak into and read the minds of the people,  
Kokiri, Hylian, fairy,  
anyone, that was near him. He could do the  
latter to an extent, so I was  
told.  
I looked up to the branches  
hanging above me as I stepped  
forward to stand beside Navi.  
"What is wrong," I asked  
the tree. "What happened to you?"  
Navi made to berate me for my  
behavior, and I gathered she might  
mention something about manners, but she  
didn't have time to do so, for the tree  
spoke, answering both of my questions.  
"A curse has been placed upon  
me, a curse so powerful, I cannot  
combat it. I fear that it may even be  
too late for me to dispel it for I  
am too weak."  
"I'm sorry and all," before I  
could finish, I grunted as Navi's  
tiny leg hit me in the back of the  
head. "But, where do I fit into this?  
Why call me? I'm not  
special."  
"Oh, Link, you have no idea how  
wrong you are in that statement." I could  
hear the Deku Tree's words growing  
weaker and weaker. "You fit into this  
perfectly well, Link. I cannot  
explain how, for that would take too  
much time. All I ask is that you  
trek inside me, and dispel the  
curse."  
"But, I'm not able to do so," I  
remark. "I'm not strong, or  
brave, or anything."  
"Please, Link." If I did  
not know any better, I'd say that  
the Great Deku Tree, the  
guardian of the Kokiri, their  
fairies, and their forests, was begging  
for an eleven year old boy, to go  
inside of him, and track down something  
that's making him sick, and probably  
killing him.  
"There is more, Link."  
"There's more?" Hearing that I was,  
despite fiercely protesting,  
special, and that I was to kill something  
inside a tree, my mind was about  
to explode.  
"I am keeping something safe within  
me, something that must not fall into the hands  
of the one who cursed me."  
"What's that?" I couldn't stop  
myself from asking.  
"There's not much time, Link.  
Please," his words cut off, and a  
cry came from behind us.  
What happened next would have been  
funny, if not for the danger that was  
posed to myself, and Navi because, out of the  
treelined pathway I had walked  
to get here, a horde of Deku  
Babas seemed to run after a small  
figure who was screaming at the top  
of his lungs.  
A creaking came from the Great  
Deku Tree, and I was faced with  
two options: Get myself killed, as  
well as Mido, and the Great Deku  
Tree, that I could count, or drag  
the bully into the tree with me to stop this  
stupid curse, if I could.  
I've often been told how  
stupid I really am, and it just hit  
me that moment how right they were.  
Some innate instinct kicked in,  
and I grabbed Mido by the shoulders,  
turned him to the opening in the trunk  
of the Great Deku Tree, and pushed  
gently, telling him to go inside.  
Then, I drew my sword, and  
stood firmly in front, covering  
Mido as he fled, hacking at any  
of the living plants that came near and  
tried to bite me in half.  
Link, you are completely  
stupid, and completely insane.  
Finally, the horde grew too  
large, and I fled as well, racing  
for the opening that Mido had fled into.  
I leaped forward, having grabbed  
Navi from the air as well, and  
flew straight into the Great Deku  
Tree. When I hit the ground,  
that I didn't expect to hit, I  
remember intense pain, then  
complete darkness.  
The last thing I heard was not the  
snapping of the Deku Babas,  
Mido's shrieks, or even  
Navi's worry.  
I heard a deep rumble, as if  
Hyrule's largest pair of doors  
had closed, shutting us inside the  
Great Deku Tree.


	7. I Dream A Dream (It Sucks)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's not much to do when you're forced to sleep for as long as our hero is... Sometimes, you have to hate dreams.

Things faded in and out of both my  
vision, and hearing. The loud booming as  
the entrance closed reverberated through  
my skull, and I could vaguely  
hear Navi squeak, "Is he  
okay? Is he alive?"  
"You're his "fairy!" You tell  
me!" Mido snapped.  
Their voices were muffled, almost  
as if I were under water. But, I  
knew that was impossible.  
At least, I hoped.  
"Link?" Navi's words grew  
fainter until they weren't Navi's  
at all, but Saria's. On her  
face was the same look of  
disappointment I had seen after my  
reckless attack on Mido.  
"I should have expected this from you,  
Link," she said, and her face  
transformed into that of the man I had  
seen before in my dreams. Suddenly,  
that same dream came back, and the  
area turned rainy, and dark. The  
man raised a hand, and with an evil  
glint in his eyes, made a  
gesture with his raised hand. It was  
almost a sign of warding off evil,  
only, in this case, I suspected  
that I was the evil being pushed back.  
And instead of being pushed, I was  
thrown several feet backward, and  
down a hillside.  
I rolled, futilely grabbing  
at something, anything, to stop my  
fall, but there was nothing solid.  
I banged my head against one rock,  
then another, and for a few minutes it  
seemed like this would last an eternity.  
But, seconds later, I was laying  
on my side, looking, my eyes  
firmly shut.  
What had just happened?  
Before I could ask this question aloud,  
or try to answer it in my head, I  
was out again.  
Within the dream, I am once more  
faced with the evil man, but this time  
we're in a room whose light almost  
hurt to look at.  
"Open the seal, boy!" he  
commanded, raising a hand.  
In my left hand were three stones,  
and in my right, a long piece of  
wood, pockmarked with holes, a  
mouthpiece at one end.  
Dream Me raised the stones,  
an emerald, a ruby, and a  
sapphire, and something dark hit  
an invisible barrier.  
This was very strange.  
When I finally woke up  
properly, Mido and Navi were  
hovering over me, the latter doing so  
in both forms of the term.  
"What happened?" I croaked.  
"We're inside the Deku  
Tree, obviously," Mido  
sneered. It looked like he was back  
to normal.  
"I closed the entrance, to save  
the three of you," the Deku Tree's  
voice was very faint in my mind.  
"The Babas have left, and when the  
curse is relieved, you will be  
teleported from my depths."  
"Do you have any idea what we're  
looking for?" I asked the cool air  
around us. It was surprisingly cold,  
almost too much so. Only after getting  
to my feet did I get a chance  
to look around. As I did so, I  
heard no response to my question.  
Behind Mido was the rest of a  
hallway inside the tree, a hall  
that led into a large circular room  
that seemed empty. In the center of the  
room was a network of webbing lay  
on the floor, and I suspected it  
was covering something, a hole maybe?  
"Stay here," I told Mido.  
I don't know what it was, but a  
small sign of fear crossed his  
face, and the Kokiri boy nodded.  
I stepped forward, out of the hall  
with Navi at my side. "Keep  
watch," I told her.  
There was something nagging at the back  
of my mind, something I couldn't really  
form into a full thought. But, I got  
one thing out of the flickering fragments.  
Something was wrong.  
Clinging to the side of the Deku  
Tree, what I thought to be a  
wall, I glimpsed some vines that  
led upward, and out of sight. And in the  
shadow of the wall, from small,  
familiar patches in the mossy  
floor, three Deku Babas  
sprouted. Not only could they bite,  
and chew, but these treacherous plants  
could spit seeds so fast they were made  
very dangerous.  
"This is just great," I grumbled,  
more of my old self showing. This  
strange, new me, however, took  
over, and I lunged forward with my  
sword at the ready. I sliced  
to the left, knocking one of the flying  
projectiles out of the air, and severing  
the "head" of a Baba. Almost immediately  
it withered away into nothing more than dust.  
Without a second glance at the  
remains of the dead Baba, I  
whirled, swinging the blade high enough  
to hit the remaining enemies before they  
could think, if plants like these could  
think, to snap their jaws at a tasty  
snack.  
For one, I'm not tasty. And  
second, I would not like to find out if  
anyone disagrees with that statement.  
"That was too easy," I said before  
I could think otherwise.  
"I told you before you embarked on  
this treacherous quest, that you were a  
hero, Link." the Deku Tree's  
voice was almost like a whisper in my  
mind. "You are doing well, but I  
fear your task will only grow more  
difficult. The curse lies at  
my roots, and you are in the room that  
houses the easiest way down."  
"Mido, come on!" I called,  
heeding the tree's warning. "It's  
safe now."  
As Mido came out of hiding from  
the hall, I inspected the room  
in its entirety. The thing that caught  
my attention the most was the web in  
the center. I moved over to it, and  
knelt, peering through the strands.  
Only then did I hear the  
scratching sound that was all too  
familiar, and suddenly, the reason  
this place felt so wrong hit me  
like the boulder in the Kokiri  
Training Grounds.  
This place radiated evil, and  
my deductive reasoning told me  
that there were Skulltulas at the center  
of the problem.


	8. Every Tree Has Its Spiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dreams are out of the way, now ing's time for the heroics to begin, maybe...

I looked up the line of vines,  
and glimpsed, just barely, three  
Skulltulas. The spiders clung  
to the wall with one of their eight legs,  
and made their annoying scratching  
noise.  
I forced my gaze back to the  
web that we were still studying.  
"Beneath this, it's a very, very long  
drop." I told the others, laying  
on my stomach, and pressing my  
face to the strands.  
Oddly enough, they were not sticky.  
They were thick, and almost rope-like  
in texture, unlike most of the  
spider webs I encountered. And the  
Skulltulas are best known for their  
spider webs, because they could catch  
little insects, to a full-grown  
Kokiri. (If you could consider  
ten years old to be fully grown.)  
I glance upwards, squinting  
to get a better look at our next  
opponent.  
"I'm not that good at archery,"  
I mutter to myself, but I pull out  
my slingshot anyway. I feel  
inside my makeshift quiver,  
pull out a seed, and prepare  
to fire.  
"You can't make that shot!" Mido  
protested, and Navi hushed him.  
"Let him concentrate,"  
"But, he can't make that!"  
A small twang from the slingshot,  
and just seconds later the  
Skulltula came falling down the  
vines, its eight legs thrown  
wide, and its face in a  
grotesque mask of what I  
assumed was surprise.  
I moved forward, after a quick listen  
to the room around us, and took hold  
of the vines on the wall, beginning  
to climb up.  
"Where are you going?" Mido tried  
to shout, but it only came out as a  
whimper.  
"Stay here all you'd like,  
Mido," I said, looking down at  
him from a few feet up. "But,  
I'm going to do what the Deku  
Tree asked me to."  
After a few moments of climbing,  
I reached the top. With Navi beside  
me, helping to illuminate the way,  
I traveled deeper into the tree.  
The Great Deku Tree didn't  
seem to be thick enough to hold as much  
room as he did, though I didn't  
doubt he was tall enough. For all  
I knew, his roots could be at the  
center of the planet. As I thought  
this, I hoped the Deku Tree  
didn't take that as an insult, and  
knock me all the way to the  
bottom.  
"Link, I'd suggest taking a  
torch," Navi warned. I looked  
around, blinking in confusion.  
"Uh, Navi," I looked at  
her. "I don't see any  
torches around here. Also, wouldn't that  
set the tree, and then us, on  
fire?"  
Navi glided to stand on the air  
in front of my face. "I'm  
afraid it's too late to worry  
about that."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Come with me," was all she said.  
I did so without another word, and she  
guided me to a burning torch.  
Finally, after taking the torch from the  
wall, I spoke again. "What  
is it we're going to do," the fairy  
stopped me before I could finish.  
"What you're going to do," she  
emphasized who was doing this, "is  
set any Skulltulas, or their  
webs, on fire. I've heard that  
works well when getting rid of them."  
I didn't question her logic, but  
I did question the torch in my grasp.  
Why hadn't the Great Deku Tree  
caught fire? Wasn't he  
flammable?  
I was brought back to reality by a  
rather large Skulltula and its friends  
jumping out of nowhere, and attacking  
me.  
"Link!" Navi screamed as I  
went down in a tangle of Kokiri  
and Skulltula limbs.  
Meanwhile, off to the side stood  
two different kinds of the spiders.  
Well, they were the same kind, but  
different from the regular "race"  
of Skulltula. They had a golden  
tint to their body.  
What in Din's name are they?  
Eventually, I freed myself from  
the pile of arachnids, and moved  
toward them. They didn't seem  
hostile, but you could never tell with  
Skulltulas. I struck out with the  
Kokiri sword in an attempt  
to defeat one of them, but it only  
hopped to the side.  
These things have more of a brain than the  
usual spider, I thought as I  
rushed forward, feinting to the left.  
Both fell for my trick, but not in  
the way I had hoped.  
Instead of being where I predicted,  
the arachnids were smart, and sandwiched  
me between their many legs, sending me  
sprawling.  
"Navi, make sure," one of the  
gold-tinted Skulltulas raised  
a leg, and seemed to command its  
soldiers, one of which leaped onto my  
chest.  
"I'm supposed to watch over  
you, you dummy!" Navi yelped as the  
weight of all the Skulltulas,  
even the commanding gold ones, carried  
us over the edge, and down a very long  
drop.  
Now, you may be thinking, you'll be  
fine, if you can land right, but these things  
are heavy! Not only that, but there were  
at least a dozen Skulltulas  
still alive, and battering me.  
I did my best to sheath my  
sword, and luckily skewered one  
of the little devils. (I wouldn't need  
it unless I wanted to accidentally  
kill myself.)  
I twisted in the air, getting  
a glimpse of what was just ahead for  
me and my attackers.  
Oh, no!  
CRACK!  
Down a young Kokiri, and  
several Skulltulas plummeted,  
again, this time through the web that had been  
placed in the very center of the Great  
Deku Tree's entrance.  
Where did we land? Only the  
Goddesses knew, and I prayed  
they would help me, because man, this is  
going to hurt, a lot!


	9. Meet The Spider Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spiders are coming back with a vengeance, it seems. But, it's a little easier than it looks.  
> (Note: It will not be like this ALL the time, just for now.)

So, now you know why I hate  
spiders, right? Good, because I'm not  
going through another trial if it has  
them! But, don't you worry, because  
I'm not done explaining the terror  
of arachnids.  
I'd love to say that we all  
fell to our deaths, the Skulltulas  
had a cushioned landing, and I died  
valiantly, but nope! Navi  
wasn't going to let me die, for  
some reason.  
I saw a gleam of blue, and the  
fairy came streaking from high above,  
her light scaring the Skulltulas  
off of my body, surprisingly.  
"You are a big idiot!" was all  
my companion said before dropping a  
stream of her healing tears onto my  
battered torso. "You shouldn't have  
let them do that to you!"  
"You think I had a choice?" I  
mumbled, less angry than I had  
hoped.  
It's not like I could control that  
fight. Nevertheless, it was over, and  
they were scattered somewhere else.  
"Where's Mido?" I asked.  
"He's up by the entrance, still."  
"Good," I stood, after a  
couple attempts. "How far down  
do you think we are?"  
"Not far enough."  
"What?" I demanded. "We  
have to go farther?"  
"We have to go to the Great Deku  
Tree's roots to stop this curse,  
remember?"  
"Oh, boy," I muttered,  
starting off. "I wonder what the  
curse is!"  
It was plainly obvious to me.  
There had to be only one thing causing  
this curse, because the Skulltulas  
didn't act this way. And in my  
entire life in the forest, I had  
never seen those strange, golden  
Skulltulas.  
"Look," Navi whispered,  
her tiny mouth hanging open. She  
was pointing a small finger at the  
wall ahead of us.  
Just above a door, tangled in a  
set of vines was a golden token with a  
spider symbol on it.  
"What is that thing?" I asked,  
moving to get a better look at it.  
The token didn't look  
dangerous, and it was just hanging there.  
But, why?  
I jumped up, and grabbed hold  
of the vines ensnaring the token, and  
pulled them apart to let the object  
tumble to the ground at my feet.  
"Another question I have for the Deku  
Tree, what does he have doors  
in here for?" I asked, grabbing the  
token, and pushing through the doorway.  
"Make sure to ask him yourself,  
if we survive this place,"  
Navi grumbled. "Just like all of your  
other questions."  
I looked at her, "What do  
you mean?"  
"You're constantly asking, "What  
is this?" or "What does this do?"  
or maybe, "What is this for?"  
Can't you just,"  
"Look," I started to retort.  
"I didn't ask to be thrown into this  
lifestyle of running through the inside  
of strangely large trees, so  
pardon me for my confusion!"  
Content with myself, okay not really,  
I stalked through the door, Navi  
following silently.  
The next room held a  
treacherous pit, and the only way  
across, to a wall mind you, was a set  
of platforms moving from side to side,  
and up and down.  
Really?  
But, again, my innate hero's  
instincts kicked in, and I felt  
like I was watching a completely  
different person backflip down  
passed three platforms, ride the  
next, and jump off before getting  
impaled by a spike conspicuously  
hidden beside the wall.  
This couldn't be me! I didn't  
know how to backflip to save my  
life, and most of the Kokiris  
laughed because of my lack of athletic  
skills.  
But, here I was, expertly  
scaling a line of platforms, heading  
deeper inside the Great Deku  
Tree.  
I'm serious! This can't be me!  
Even as I gawk at my own  
prowess, I turn to see a smug  
look on Navi's small face.  
"What?"  
She didn't respond as we  
made the descent further into the  
Great Deku Tree, to its roots.  
And only then, while watching my  
unknown, athletic proficiency,  
did I realize how far down the  
end might be.  
Finally, after what seemed an  
eternity, we came to a door  
guarded by two of the gold  
Skulltulas. This time, my  
hero's instincts took over the  
fight, and I didn't go down a  
wimp. My slingshot was in my hand as  
I gracefully dropped from the last  
of the moving platforms, and before I  
could say "Deku Baba," both  
Skulltulas was sprawled on their  
backs, stunned. A quick spin  
attack brought them down completely,  
and Navi and I entered the room beyond.  
"Another trick?" I asked  
Navi, but it didn't sound like my  
voice. My voice was a little  
deeper.  
"I," she seemed a little confused  
with this change too. "I don't  
know."  
"Well, only one way to find  
out."  
I started off at a run,  
crossing the room in a few  
strides.  
Nothing happened.  
I came back across the room,  
and still, nothing happened.  
So, what's the deal with this room?  
Standing across from the door once more,  
I began to survey it in its  
gloomy entirety, and that was when  
I found what I was looking for.  
"What did I tell you?" I  
said. "If you can hear me, Great  
Deku Tree, is this the source  
of the curse?"  
"Yes," the words that came into my  
mind from the tree were very faint, which was  
not a good sign, (obviously.)  
Clinging to the ceiling, with an  
enormous red eye, was the largest  
spider I had ever seen.  
"Link, look out!" Navi cried  
as the massive arachnid dropped from  
the ceiling straight for me, her  
clawed arms outstretched.  
I rolled to the side and slashed  
with my sword, hoping to get in a  
good hit on the huge monster. The  
blade seemed to home in on what  
looked like the only vulnerable part  
of the spider's body: Its giant,  
red eye. However, the attack  
did not faze it, for it came  
changing at me, knocking me to the  
ground.  
"Link!" Navi yelped  
helplessly.  
Then, a volley of Deku seeds  
came from nowhere, pummeling the  
monster.  
Wait a second. I know it.  
I know her! But, how do I know her?  
I have never seen her before.  
The spider, a Gohma I  
recalled from an unknown memory,  
roared, and little Gohma Larvae  
appeared to reinforce their queen.  
And to reinforce me, with a slingshot  
I didn't want to where it came  
from, seeds flying from quiver, to hand,  
and to hit their target, his expression  
set in a determined sneer, was  
Mido.  
"Link, look down!" he called  
out. "Navi, shield yourself."  
What was his plan?  
Still under the influence of this new  
Link, I snatched Navi from the  
air, and placed her beneath my hat,  
and ran for Mido. Meanwhile, the  
Kokiri once-bully threw a  
handful of Deku nuts over my  
head as the Gohma queen charged  
once more.  
I held my hat down as an  
intense flash of light stunned the  
queen in her tracks, and I was  
thrown to the ground. I rolled to my  
feet, and ran for her once more,  
leaping into the air to deal the final  
blow with my sword.  
As the queen of all Gohmas,  
and her larvae, began to disintegrate  
into dust, Mido and I began to fade  
into a beam of light which shot upwards,  
and out into Kokiri Forest once again.  
And only then did I realize how  
tired I was.  
As the Great Deku Tree began  
his praise of our work, I sank  
to my knees, panting in exhaustion.  
"Well done, Link, and  
Mido," he laid a branch on  
our shoulders. "Thank you for freeing  
me from the clutches of that evil  
beast."


	10. The Truth, And Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the death of the Great Deku Tree, outside of his glade, the forest of the Kokiri has erupted into chaos. Link's mind is in a similar state, thanks to all that he must understand, but his journey doesn't end here.  
> (Beobviously, if you know the story of Ocarina of Time.)

The rest of the daytime was very hectic,  
for I was not left alone, not by any  
of the Kokiri, and while I would have  
loved the attention, for the most part, on  
any other day, but with Mido being,  
different, it made me more than  
uncomfortable. Everyone had flocked  
to the clearing where the dead Deku  
Tree still stood, and questioned me until  
Saria came to help me home.  
But, that was after the Deku Tree  
died, and after he did his best  
to explain everything.  
Finally, late that night, as I  
lay wide awake, trying to sleep,  
I managed to get the events of the  
day into some sort of order.  
"Link," the Deku Tree had  
spoken to me, after we had relieved  
the curse from him. "I fear Navi  
was correct, I do not have too much  
time left."  
"You can't die," I said, keeping  
my back to Navi. I couldn't bear  
for her, or anyone else, to see me  
break down like I was about to.  
"It is just my time. But, before I  
do, I must pass something on to you.  
Something you will need in the days to come."  
One of his branches weakly  
lowered, and proffered a green gem  
to me.  
"This is the Kokiri's  
Emerald, the Spiritual Stone of  
Forest." the Great Deku Tree  
explained. "I was its guardian, but  
now that I can no longer fulfill that  
role, I pass it to you, its rightful  
owner."  
"Its rightful, what?"  
But, he was not done, "I must  
ask of you one final favour, however,  
Link." the tree listed sideways  
slightly, what I took for a  
spasm of pain. "Go to Hyrule  
Castle. Meet with Princess  
Zelda. Stop Ganondorf."  
Then, one of his branches lowered  
to my shoulders, and I was taken to,  
what I guessed, was the past.  
This didn't feel like a dream.  
In fact, I felt completely  
invisible. But, I was looking out  
over Kokiri Forest in its nighttime  
glory through the perspective of the  
Great Deku Tree himself.  
I watched as a strange man  
came into the glade that housed the  
Deku Tree, and stopped before it.  
"What are you doing here?" I  
felt myself speak, but it was the voice  
of the tree. "Who are you?"  
"I have come for the Spiritual Stone,"  
said the man. He looked up to the  
branches above, an evil gleam in  
his eyes.  
"You can't have it."  
"Oh, but I will," Ganondorf,  
I suspected it was this man, said.  
The Gerudo, (how did I know  
this?) placed a glowing hand against the  
tree's trunk, and whispered a few  
words. Darkness seeped from his  
fingertips, and I cried out in pain.  
I gasped as I was wrenched from the  
vision and I slumped forward.  
Sometime during the experience, the  
tree limb had slipped from my  
shoulder, and after a few moments, I  
realized I was crying, but I did not  
care.  
"Kill him."  
The words echoed so faintly through my  
mind that I almost missed them.  
I didn't know how long I  
stayed in this position, and Navi must  
have silently gone to get Saria, for  
I felt her hand gently grasp  
my shoulder, and help me to my  
feet. Clutched tightly in my  
right hand was the Kokiri Emerald,  
and in my left was a leaf from the  
tree itself.  
"Come on, Link, you need some  
sleep." Saria said soothingly.  
"It'll all be better tomorrow."  
It seemed that most of the events that  
had transpired, had been  
resolved: Mido was not being a jerk  
anymore, and the Deku Tree could  
rest in peace. However, my mind was  
still racing after the Deku Tree's  
request.  
Who was this Princess Zelda?  
And how would I get to her, wherever  
she was? I'm a Kokiri, right?  
Doesn't that mean I can't leave  
the forest, or I'll die?  
All these thoughts came and went as  
Saria led me by the hand through the little  
village, and to my isolated  
treehouse. We climbed the ladder,  
and Saria proved herself to be a true  
motherly figure because she helped me  
get ready for sleep, and turned out  
one of the small torches that provided  
me with light at night.  
"Good night Link. Sleep  
well," Saria said before leaving.  
"Thanks. I'll try." I  
mumbled, laying my head down, and  
closing my eyes.  
Unfortunately for me, I did  
not sleep very well. I was plagued  
with nightmares of spiders crawling  
all over me, and I awoke drenched  
in cold sweat.

For a moment I sat in my darkened  
hut, not moving, and contemplating all  
that I had endured.  
"Talk about a happy birthday,"  
I muttered to myself. And in the back  
of my mind, a tiny voice told  
me that things were only going to get  
worse as time progressed.  
Are you really ready? asked the little  
voice. I shook my head.  
I was far from ready.  
The Great Deku Tree had  
called me some sort of hero, and  
Navi had agreed with him. But,  
I didn't feel at all heroic.  
I felt the same as I had the day  
before, small and, well, not heroic.  
I glared at my hands, which were  
clasped in front of me, the  
Kokiri Emerald between my palms.  
"Link?" came a small  
voice, this time one that was not in my  
head. "Are you okay?"  
I had almost forgotten about the little  
fairy sleeping beside my hat, on  
the table beside my bed.  
"I'm fine," I lied. Navi  
must have sensed as much, because she stood  
up, and put her tiny hands on her  
hips.  
"You're having trouble taking all  
of this in, aren't you?" she asked,  
her wings fluttering behind her.  
"Just a little," I admitted,  
keeping my gaze lowered.  
"It's okay to admit it,  
Link." I had to give it to her, the  
little fairy knew when, and how, to be  
comforting, if she wanted to.  
"Thanks," I replied  
glumly. "But, I just don't  
understand how I can be this "hero" you,  
and the Great Deku Tree think I  
am."  
"You will realize it all soon,"  
Navi promised. "It will all come  
to you in time."  
I stood up, and grabbed my  
hat, putting it on over my  
messy hair. I pulled my  
tunic on afterwards, and grabbed my  
necessary equipment, heading for the door.  
"Where are you going?" Navi  
asked, flapping her wings  
frantically to keep up with me.  
"If I have to go see this,  
Princess Zelda, then what am  
I waiting for? If I have to go  
to Hyrule Castle, then I better  
get a move on, am I right?"  
"Well, yeah." Navi said,  
settling on my shoulder as I  
jumped from the top of my treehouse  
ladder. That was one thing, thankfully,  
that I could accomplish in the  
athletics department.  
"Link, do you know the story of the  
Three Goddesses?" Navi asked  
as I walked through the forest village.  
"Every Kokiri does," I said.  
"But, you're not,"  
"Look, Navi. If I am not  
a Kokiri, then I will not die when  
I leave this forest, right?"  
"Well,"  
"Exactly." I retorted.  
This stopped her completely.  
I did know the story of the Three  
Goddesses, Farore, Din, and  
Nayru. They were somehow related  
to Hylia, some higher-up Goddess.  
The almighty Hylia created the  
land, or something, then the three made  
the Triforce, combining their  
attributes to form the triangle that  
has brought nothing but trouble  
to Hyrule. And I'd bet that's  
what has brought Ganondorf  
to power, to threaten Hyrule.  
Once I reached the bridge to the  
outside world, I found two people  
who wanted to say their farewells,  
at least the first I thought would like to.  
Standing before me, in the center of the  
bridge were Saria, and Mido.  
"Link, I knew you'd be coming out  
this way," Saria said, stepping  
forward. "Late night excursion?"  
"Where are you going?" Mido  
asked, getting straight to the point.  
"If you're a Kokiri, then you  
can't leave the forest."  
"I have been thinking about the same  
thing, Mido," I said.  
"But, you aren't," Saria said.  
"I know how much you want it to be  
true that you are, but," she trailed  
off.  
I looked down, remaining  
silent.  
"Just do me one favor," she said  
after a few moments. "Take this, and  
remember me when you play it."  
Held in her right hand was a wind  
instrument.  
"It's called an ocarina," she  
explained. "It's my prized  
possession."  
"Then why give it to me?" my  
voice felt small, and about as  
squeaky as Navi's.  
"Because, I trust you."  
Then, before she and Mido left,  
Saria leaned forward, and surprised  
both me, and Mido. Her lips  
pressed against mine in a passionate  
kiss.  
"Good bye Link," she whispered,  
wrapping her arms around me tenderly.  
"And remember me."


	11. Hyrule Field

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for a new adventure to begin, and Link doesn't really realize what kind of a target he has become since his birthday began, and ended.

After an intense discussion with  
Navi, who had joined me shortly  
after the departure of the other two  
Kokiris, I agreed that I should  
rest on the bridge before going out to the  
open world of Hyrule. My reason  
was because I was tired, and hers happened  
to be because ravenous monsters roamed  
the fields, and she was worried I  
would get cornered, torn apart, and  
eaten by a group of them. Also, I  
didn't feel like I could sleep in  
my own bed again.  
So, five minutes later I was  
laying on my side on the wooden  
planks of the bridge separating the  
world from the forest.  
"Navi," I asked, my eyes  
shut.  
"Hmmm?" she asked groggily.  
"Am I a real Kokiri?"  
"Why do you ask?"  
"Well," I sighed, preparing  
my answer. "I have lived my  
life being insulted because I was raised  
in the forest of the Kokiris, but I had  
no fairy until just recently, when  
you came along, no offense."  
I could tell she was pondering how  
much she could, or should, tell me on  
this subject, and I wanted to just  
say "Spit it out! I can't wait  
another eleven years!" But, I  
kept quiet, and let her think.  
"No," she finally admitted.  
"You were taken in by the Great Deku  
Tree when you were very young. It was back  
a couple years, when the War was still  
going on. I was not born yet, so  
I was not there personally to see what  
happened, but according to the Deku Tree,  
a woman came to it, asking that it  
take her baby, very keep him  
safe. She was mortally wounded, and  
couldn't carry on much longer, so her  
last act was to put you in the care of the  
Deku Tree. At least," she  
paused. "That's how I remember  
him telling me."  
"Thank you, Navi." I  
whispered.  
My mind finally at ease, at  
least in regards to that subject, I  
let myself drift off, into the land of  
dreams.  
Across the fields, and in the depths  
of the Gerudo Desert,  
Ganondorf, the only Gerudo  
male alive this century, stormed from  
his sleeping quarters.  
Ganondorf had been born  
to two surrogate mothers, the witches  
Kotake and Koume.  
"Tell the witches, I will be in  
the Training Grounds." Ganondorf  
told two of his Gerudo servants.  
Obediently, they rushed off, and the  
Gerudo King started for the desired  
destination.  
Ganondorf's devilish yellow  
eyes gleamed in the desert night as  
he made his way to the Gerudo  
fortress's training grounds, where he  
would be able to practice several  
types of talents, all in  
preparation for the day he would slaughter  
the Hero of Time.  
"He's ready, you know," a  
voice murmured from behind him. "The  
boy's started his journey."  
"You called us out here for a  
reason?" another voice came  
to him, and Ganondorf turned to find  
his surrogate mothers standing before him.  
"My magic has detected the  
death of the Great Deku Tree."  
"But, the boy will have the stone."  
Kotake said, frowning.  
"He is too close to the tree,  
disallowing for any of us to get near."  
Koume agreed.  
"He must have left the forest by now."  
"He's not a fool,"  
Ganondorf snorted. "That, or  
those that are trying to help him aren't.  
He'll be in the forest just one more  
night."  
"Then what?"  
"Then, we hope for the best. The  
Gerudos aren't necessarily the  
most liked of the races, sister,"  
snapped Koume.  
"It was just an honest question."  
Kotake protested. "Are you so  
slow that you cannot realize that?"  
"Quiet!" Ganondorf  
snapped, raising a hand.  
"Right," the witches cleared their  
throats, and spoke in their raspy  
voices as one.  
"Koume, you are right. The Gerudo  
aren't liked, even after the war. It  
took all of the King of Hyrule's  
power just to send us out here to the desert  
without much of a fuss. So, all we can  
do now is watch and wait as the boy  
goes through these "trials" to prove  
himself. We will act when the time is  
right."  
Ganondorf lowered his hand, and  
turned away from the sisters who leaped  
as one into the cold night air,  
disappearing into their tower. Meanwhile,  
the Gerudo King turned to the night,  
and day, of practice ahead.  
"Link," a voice penetrated  
my slumber, and a small hand did  
its best to shake me awake. "Link  
wake up!"  
I groaned sleepily . I  
rose, almost sending Navi  
plummeting to the planks of the  
bridge.  
"What's wrong?" I asked,  
rubbing at my eyes.  
"Nothing's wrong, it's morning."  
"Then," I stopped, remembering  
the events of the previous day. And not  
just any day! It had to be my  
birthday when this all began, didn't  
it?!  
I stood, and looked out through the  
line of trees at the end of the  
bridge. Two of them in particular  
had branches that formed a rather large  
archway, large enough to allow passage  
of a full horse-drawn cart.  
I took a few tentative  
steps forward, and peered passed the  
thick body of a tree, out into the world  
beyond.  
"Welcome to Hyrule  
Field." Navi said, fluttering  
gracefully down to my shoulder. "This  
is the nexus of all the major  
villages, towns, ranches, and  
most importantly, our next  
destination: Hyrule Castle  
Town."  
"Hyrule Castle Town?" I  
asked, blinking in confusion.  
"Yes, the castle itself is very  
close to the Market."  
"You are confusing me," I  
managed.  
And thus, we set out on the  
adventure of a lifetime.  
The field seemed, for the most part,  
empty, except for the occasional  
animal, or flower, some of which were  
actually alive. We even came  
across some spirits that Navi called  
Poes.  
There was only one problem with  
Hyrule Field, at least in the  
daytime, for me. There were too many  
living plants, and not just in the forest.  
You can add botanophobia, and  
anthophobia to my ever-growing list  
of fears.


	12. The Fairly Treacherous Trek To Market Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyrule Field is filled with a wide variety of creatures. You just have to know which will kill you, and which will leave you alone. As Link travels to Hyrule Castle, he gets a taste of the wildlife of Hyrule, outside of the forest.

I think yesterday began a trend  
that will ultimately scar me for the rest  
of my life, which was starting to look very  
short.  
"Uh, Navi, what are these  
things?" I asked as a pair of  
plant-like creatures with spinning  
petals approached from the air. I  
figured the petals wouldn't hurt  
if I got hit, mainly because they  
are flower petals, but I immediately  
discarded that thought.  
I backed away as one of them  
came in for a landing, closely  
followed by a few of its friends.  
"Why is it the plant life  
has to be alive," I sighed,  
slowly backing away, crouching down  
for good measures. As I did this,  
I turned my attention to Navi,  
and asked, "Where is Castle Town?  
And how quickly can I get there?"  
"It's about a day's ride from  
here." Navi informed me.  
"A day? Ride?! What am  
I going to ride?"  
I had to refrain from turning around,  
and just sprinting off into the distance, and  
hoping to reach Hyrule's Castle  
Town that way. The reason behind this was  
that two of the plants, had slowed their  
spinning petals only for a short  
while. But, moments later, the  
creatures, the Peahats I heard  
Navi call them, were airborne  
again.  
"You can't damage them, not when  
they're in the air," Navi said as  
I made yet another attempt  
to run away, scrambling over a  
hill.  
"Then, how do I kill them?"  
"You stab them!" Navi cried,  
doing her best to stay with me, and  
avoid the petal propellers.  
"When they're not in the air, you stab  
them!"  
"All right, when's the next time  
they'll land?"  
I didn't get an answer because  
I made a stupid mistake, and  
tried to take one on.  
Link, you are such a complete  
idiot, and I'm sure Navi  
wouldn't disagree, not even to make you  
feel better.  
I was sent flying surprisingly  
far. I sailed over hill after  
hill, and tumbled head over heels  
through the windy morning sky. Finally  
I landed on my back with one of my  
arms twisted behind me in a futile  
attempt to grab my sword.  
"Link!" Navi cried, her  
bluish light masked by the sunny  
sky. I felt her land on my  
chest, doing her level best I  
suspected, to be gentle. "Are you  
okay?"  
"Does it look like I'm  
okay?" I grunted, picking her  
up with one hand, and sitting up.  
"I think my arm's broken."  
"I think I know a place we  
can go. It should be in the very center of  
Hyrule Field. This place should  
net us a way to Castle Town."  
"What's that?" I asked,  
struggling to my feet, and hoping the  
Peahats were not near, or following  
us.  
"There's a ranch. If I  
remember correctly, the family  
that lives there, and runs it, they  
make regular runs to the Market.  
Maybe we can hitch a ride there with  
them."  
It's worth a shot, I mused,  
and began to walk. Though, my only  
hope now was relief for the pain I  
felt in my broken sword arm.  
Wait a second.  
That wasn't my thought, was it?  
I let that train of thought drop as  
we came near the front gates of a  
ranch. I was not very surprised,  
though, to know that the gates were closed.  
On one of the gate's posts was a  
sign reading:  
Out to make deliveries,  
Due back in a few days.  
Talon  
"He must have left already," Navi  
muttered to herself as she examined the  
sign intently.  
"What are you doing out in the  
field, boy, don't you realize  
it's nearly dusk?" called a harsh  
voice.  
I nearly dropped Navi, who  
had asked that I carry her.  
"What happens after dusk?"  
I asked curiously.  
"Where have you been?"  
"We've come from the forests to the  
east." Navi answered.  
"Ah, Forest Children, are you?  
Well, get inside before the Stalchildren  
get you."  
"The what?" I asked Navi as  
the man began to open the gate.  
"I'll explain later."  
"Well, are you coming inside?"  
"Would you mind if we stayed the  
night?" Navi asked.  
"My "master" isn't home, so  
I don't care. So long as you  
keep his things the way they are, I'm  
fine with it. But, for only one  
night."  
I nodded, and entered the ranch, and the  
gruff man who had granted us  
entrance closed the gates behind us.  
"You can stand here and watch, if you'd  
like to," Navi said, noticing that I  
was not doing too much, "but, I'm  
going to get some sleep." And she  
dove under my hat, to sleep atop  
my head.  
The man who had offered us  
refuge was nowhere to be seen, so  
I turned, and focused my  
attention solely on Hyrule  
Field as dusk fell.  
I didn't know how long I  
watched the darkness envelop the  
field, and the childish, demonic  
creatures rose to roam. The  
Peahats had the field in the day,  
and these things '  
I shivered as I started for a bed,  
preparing to sleep. I knew now  
why it was so important not to be in  
the fields at night.  
The next day, we were given a  
map of Hyrule Field by the man  
who had taken our us in, and it  
seemed we had a trip ahead of  
us. And my arm was still in a bad  
condition.  
"You saw the Stalchildren?" Navi  
asked as we walked. (Well, as you  
can expect, she flew, I  
didn't.)  
"Yeah," I said dully.  
We lapsed into silence, listening  
to the sounds of the Peahats far in the  
distance, and other, actual, birds  
chirping in the trees.  
Finally, just as afternoon was settling  
in, we came to a drawbridge,  
the gateway to Castle Town according  
to Navi.  
"Well," I said dully, "We  
made it."  
"We've made it to Castle  
Town, and the market." Navi  
corrected. "We still have to get  
into the Castle. The Great Deku  
Tree said you needed to meet with this  
Princess Zelda, right?"  
I nodded. "I doubt they'll  
allow me into see her." I looked  
down as I stepped onto the  
drawbridge.  
"Are you coming into the Market?"  
called a guard. "You better come  
on, boy! I have to close the  
bridge!"  
I nodded, and grabbed Navi from the  
air as I sped up, coming out of the  
open space of Hyrule Field.  
I got to look out to the outside  
one more time as the drawbridge  
closed, keeping us within the walls of  
Hyrule Castle Town, the first part  
of our destination.


	13. Hyrule Castle Town And Market

At night, Castle Town was  
bustling with people rushing from stall to stall in  
the market, talking amongst one  
another. Navi was actually  
surprised that it was this way, even at  
night. In the day, it was just as  
astonishing. So many people going about their  
daily lives in the crowded  
streets. It was just remarkable.  
Navi thought it was priceless, my  
expression when seeing so many people in one  
place.  
As she led the way, we passed a  
girl who was around my age, with red  
hair. Our gazes met for just an  
instant, just before I came crashing  
against her.  
I grunted as I flew  
backwards, landing against the side of  
one of the shops.  
"Hello there," the girl said,  
coming over, and offering me a hand up.  
"You might want to be a little more  
careful next time."  
"Thanks," I remarked, taking  
her hand.  
She was surprisingly strong for a  
girl her age.  
"My name's Malon," she said,  
scanning me. "And you must be a  
Fairy Boy from the forest."  
"I, uh," I felt my  
throat close up, preventing me  
from speaking.  
"His name is Link, and I'm  
Navi."  
The girl gave me a  
flirtatious smile,. "You're  
headed to the Castle, I suspect?"  
Instead of replying, I nodded my  
head. It must have been a lucky  
guess, finding out I was headed to the  
castle.  
"Might I ask of you a favor  
then, Fairy Boy?"  
"Sure," I managed.  
Goddesses, she was beautiful.  
I was ashamed to be thinking it, but it  
was true. (Sorry, Saria, who  
had been the prettiest girl I had  
seen, up until this very moment.)  
"My father, Talon, went to the  
castle, to make his delivery of  
milk, but he hasn't returned.  
If he's doing what I think, then you  
will need this."  
She held out a small egg, and  
I gently took it.  
"Just press lightly on the side  
of the shell a little, and you'll see why  
I'm giving it to you." Malon winked  
at me.  
"Thanks," I said.  
"Oh, and don't forget to come by our  
ranch sometime. It's run by my father,  
and I help out."  
"So, you're the Lons that own  
Lon Lon Ranch?" Navi  
asked. Malon nodded.  
"Ingo has been in charge while  
we're away, though."  
After our conversation with Malon,  
Navi showed me around, pointing out  
several shops, and one place in  
particular: the Temple of Time.  
Apparently this temple was the house  
of the Door of Time.  
"So, where's the Castle?" I  
asked just as she gave all of this  
information.  
"Oh, just this way," and we went  
through an alleyway, and into the area  
just before the castle gates.  
Sleeping off to the side was a rather,  
big, man, not in height, but in  
size. The guards posted in front  
of the gates didn't seem to mind,  
because they paid him no attention.  
I figured that this must be Talon.  
He had some of the same features as  
Malon.  
"Well, let's go wake him  
up," Navi said, seeming to have  
recognized him as well, thinking  
the same thing as me.  
Just press lightly on the side  
of the shell a little, she had told me.  
I snuck up to the man's side,  
and kneeled down. I braced myself as  
my finger pushed lightly against the  
egg's shell.  
Suddenly, the egg opened, and the  
head of a bird poked free, cawing  
loudly.  
I nearly dropped the egg, or,  
what remained of it, but my reaction  
was nothing compared to the man,  
Talon's. He sat bolt upright,  
as if wrenching himself from the clutches  
of a nightmare, and he cried out in  
surprise.  
"What?!"  
Sitting beside him was a stack of  
crates, which he must have forgotten about,  
because when he tried to get up, he  
knocked his head against them, and cursed  
aloud.  
"Oh, sorry about that," he  
apologized, straightening, and looking  
at me. "My daughter must have sent  
you. She's a smart one, to come  
prepared as she did. I should've  
made the delivery, but I was so  
tired!" That was when he actually  
focused his gaze on me. "Listen,  
can I ask your assistance with making  
this delivery? I'm supposed to have  
these to the castle by tonight."  
"Look, I don't think," But,  
Talon didn't seem to listen.  
"Great! Thank you! Now, I must  
get back to my daughter!"  
So, without another word, he raced  
off, mumbling something about how Malon  
would give him a beating, or something  
like that.  
"By the sounds of it, you'd guess  
he was the child, and she was the one who  
ran the ranch," Navi said, voicing  
my very thought.  
"Now," I said, "time for the task  
at hand: getting into the castle."  
"Well, there is the obvious thing  
you could try," Navi said, "you could go  
up to the gates, and ask to be let  
in, right?"  
"It's worth a shot, but I  
doubt they'll take me seriously."  
I remarked.  
So, I marched toward the gate, and  
as I had expected, the guards  
came to attention, coming to stand in front  
of me.  
"State your intent," one of them  
said.  
"I was sent by the Great Deku  
Tree of Kokiri Forest to speak  
with Princess Zelda."  
They just stood there, and stared at  
me, confirming my suspicions.  
"Look boy," the one on the  
left. "If you're not going to state  
your business, and be serious about it,  
then I suggest you go back to your  
parents."  
"But, I am being serious!"  
"Move along, boy." then they  
dismissed me.  
"If you're not going to believe  
me," I murmured to their backs,  
then I'll just have to get in another  
way, with, or without your knowledge."  
So, I stalked out of the entryway,  
and back into the Market.  
I spent the rest of the day wandering  
around, looking into the various shops,  
but one specific shop caught my  
eye. Above the doorway hung a  
sign reading:  
Welcome to the Happy Mask Shop!  
Masks for sale, for every purpose!  
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking,  
Navi?" I asked the fairy, who  
was currently on my shoulder.  
"What devious plan do you have  
this time?" she asked, then she spotted  
the sign too. "There can't be one that  
can make you invisible, if that's what  
you are thinking."  
"Not invisible," I said, biting  
my lower lip. "Just,  
unnoticeable."  
I walked up to the shop, and  
entered, looking at the shelves  
stocked with masks.  
"You like?" asked a voice, and  
I snapped my mouth shut without  
realizing I had been gaping.  
"Yes," I replied.  
"I do too, that's why I have a  
shop, and why I collect them."  
The salesman flashed me a  
dazzling smile as he came out from  
behind the counter. "What can I get  
you?" he asked.  
"I'm just looking, right now." I  
said, examining the shelves. I  
noticed a creepy mask, one that  
reminded me of the Skull Kids,  
which just brought me back in time,  
remembering the forest.  
"Do you have anything that can get me  
into places unnoticed?" I asked  
suddenly.  
"Not in stock currently, no."  
he frowned.  
"All right, thanks."  
"But, come close, and I can give  
you a little tip, my boy." I  
noticed a small glint in his eye.  
"All right."  
I stepped up to the counter, and he  
leaned across, lowering his voice to a  
whisper.  
"If you're trying to do what I  
think you are, then you'd be best to try  
it in the dead of night."  
"But," I was speechless.  
"I recognize your intent, my  
friend. Take my word for it, the night  
time is the best."


	14. The Princess Of Hyrule

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that he's got a plan, hopefully, Link is ready to head into Hyrule Castle itself. Little does he know, he's expected.

"Lady Impa, please wait."  
Zelda said, panting, and nearly  
tripping over her dress several  
times, in an attempt to keep up with  
her Sheikah guardian, Impa.  
"Your Grace," Impa said,  
several strides ahead, and getting  
further with each step, "the boy could be  
there any moment."  
Zelda had had several little  
incidents in her life where she could  
see vague images from the future.  
Just recently, in fact, Zelda  
had witnessed a boy, crossing the  
moat, and coming into the courtyard,  
stopping in the center. He wore  
green, just like the children of the forest, with a  
sword strapped to his back, and a  
pouch on his hip, while a fairy  
circled around his head. It had been  
night when this vision took place, the  
princess noticed.  
When Zelda had awoken from this  
dream, she had informed Impa  
immediately, and for the past few nights,  
the two had hurried to the courtyard  
to await this boy's arrival.  
Tonight, Impa was in more of a hurry  
than usual, however, and it took  
all of Zelda's agility to keep  
Impa in sight, and she was having a  
hard time doing that.  
Finally, they slowed as they emerged  
in the courtyard.  
"Are you sure he'll be here  
tonight?"  
"Yes," Zelda responded.  
"All we need to do is wait."  
Fifteen minutes before midnight  
found me clinging to a wall of vines.  
Navi was tucked under my hat,  
to prevent her light from giving me  
away.  
Clumsily, I drew myself up,  
and over the gates to the castle, and  
started the trek to find Princess  
Zelda.  
"Watch out, guards up ahead,"  
Navi whispered. Her voice almost  
came to me in my head.  
More importantly, "How can you  
see what I can?" I asked,  
keeping my voice as low as I could.  
"Fairy Magic, that's the best  
way I can explain it."  
"Right," I muttered, not really  
believing this explanation.  
Nevertheless, I heeded her warning,  
and did my best to stay away from the  
guards patrolling the castle  
grounds. I feel like, with Navi's  
help, I did very well, making it  
all the way to the moat.  
Across from me, with their backs  
turned thankfully, were two guards.  
Unfortunately, however, they were standing  
directly across from me, across the  
bridge.  
"You have got to be kidding me," I  
sighed as the only option hit me.  
It was starting to seem like a normal  
day would never come again.  
I braced myself as I moved off  
to the side of the bridge, continuing  
alongside the meat until I was a  
safe distance away from where the guards  
stood.  
Let's just hope I do not make  
too much noise.  
Here goes nothing, I thought as I  
jumped outward, and splashed into the  
waters of the moat.  
"What was that?" came the voice  
of one of the guards.  
"Someone must have jumped in," the  
other guard said. Meanwhile, I was  
struggling to keep myself afloat as I  
paddled across the moat.  
"Or, they fell in," the first  
guard snickered. Their words became  
more and more clear as I swam, barely  
keeping myself from being dragged along with the  
current.  
"You can do it," Navi said,  
sounding genuinely encouraging.  
Finally, I heaved myself up, and  
onto the side of the water. I was  
panting from the exertion, and cold, because  
of the water that had soaked into my  
clothes.  
"Thank the Goddesses that's  
over." I groaned as I picked  
myself up, and prepared to continue.  
The only problem, however, was the  
fact that I didn't have a single  
clue as to where to start looking for the  
princess.  
"Try the courtyard," Navi  
suggested.  
Did I speak aloud, I  
wondered.  
"No, like I said before, Fairy  
Magic," Navi answered, again  
reading my questions.  
"Would you quit it, then?" I  
hissed.  
Without another word, or thought,  
I started for the courtyard, with a little  
help from Navi.  
The strange part about it was, I  
felt at home here. The layout of the  
grounds seemed so familiar. When  
we came to a wall, for example,  
I kneeled down beside it, inspecting  
it until I found a hole that was just  
my size, and began to crawl through  
it.  
Luckily enough, I emerged  
into the courtyard where someone already  
stood, staring straight at me.  
"When she said you'd come through there,  
I never imagined you'd be dripping  
wet," the veiled woman said,  
walking right up to me.  
For a few moments I was speechless  
and frozen. Had I been caught?  
Was I going to be thrown out, or  
worse, executed?  
"Relax, boy." the woman  
chuckled. "I know why you're here.  
My name is Impa. I am  
Princess Zelda's guardian.  
I believe you have fulfilled your  
journey by coming here. If you follow  
me, I will take you to her right now."  
Inwardly, I sighed with relief,  
my bones doing their best  
to unfreeze, with the clothes doing their  
best to make them freeze again.  
Impa started off at a quick  
pace, and I followed, nearly  
losing her on several occasions.  
Thankfully, Navi was there to help  
me, with her extended vision, though  
I was confused why she used my  
vision. Finally, I took my hat  
off, and she was free to fly off, which  
in turn, made it easier for me.  
Throughout our little tour of the castle,  
fortunately, there were no guards.  
Princess Zelda paced within the  
inner courtyard of Hyrule  
Castle, impatiently waiting for  
her guardian to return to her side  
with the one who would save them all.  
She barely refrained from  
shivering in her light clothing as gusts  
of wind brushed by her. The night was  
surprisingly chilly for the middle of  
summer, the princess noted. And  
before she could make up her mind, and  
run into her chambers to change  
into something more fitting, a door opened,  
and Lady Impa strode into the  
night, followed by a blue, glowing  
fairy, and the boy from her dream.  
"Welcome, Hero of Time,  
to Hyrule Castle." Zelda  
greeted. "I wish the circumstances  
weren't so dire, or I would give  
you a proper, warm, welcome."


	15. The Journey Continues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the journey to continue, one must know what the next task is. Luckily for Link, Zelda has the right information for him.

"So, is there anything that you can do  
to help us?" I asked, having just  
finished explaining to both Zelda and  
Impa, why I had come to the castle.  
"That stone," she said instead, "may  
I see it?"  
Nodding, I rummaged through the  
pouch Saria had given to me, and  
pulled out the Kokiri Emerald.  
Zelda examined it carefully, and  
her expression grew grim.  
Impa's, however, remained placid  
throughout the entire conversation.  
"What's wrong?" I asked,  
meeting the princess's gaze.  
"This is the Spiritual Stone of the  
Forest." Zelda remarked, handing the  
stone back to me. "It is one of  
three spiritual stones. All of these  
are used as keys to gain entry  
into the Sacred Realm, according to the  
histories."  
"The Sacred Realm?" Navi  
inquired.  
"What do you mean, "the Sacred  
Realm?" Like, the realm that's  
completely outside of this one?" I  
asked, hoping I didn't sound  
uneducated.  
"Yes," Zelda said. "That  
Sacred Realm. And I must admit  
to you, it's good knowing that you have at least  
one of the stones."  
"Why?"  
Zelda beckoned me to follow,  
so I did, Navi gliding  
alongside me, and Impa bringing  
up the rear, to keep watch for any  
guards, I hoped.  
Our little trip took us to a  
window overlooking a hall within the  
castle where an important-looking  
man sat upon a throne, and before him  
knelt someone very familiar.  
For a moment, the kneeling man  
turned his gaze up, and the face  
I had seen in my dreams stared right  
at me, almost through me.  
This only lasted a few seconds  
before he turned his attention back to the  
man upon the throne.  
"Talking with the king," Zelda  
pointed to the man on the throne, then  
to the one before him. "is  
Ganondorf. He says he  
speaks for the Gerudo, as their king,  
when he says they no longer seek  
the power they wanted back during the  
war. He claims that they have  
changed."  
"But, I'm guessing you don't  
believe him," I said, turning from  
the window.  
"You are correct. I do not  
believe him for a moment. I'm not  
falling for his tricks." Zelda  
glared through the window.  
"Believe it or not, but I have  
seen him before. I've seen him in a  
few dreams that I've had."  
"Elaborate, please,"  
Zelda said.  
So, I told her about the dreams  
I had had, most of them taking  
place on a stormy night, all  
of them including Ganondorf.  
"And on top of that, the Great  
Deku Tree's final words were that  
I find you, like I said before, and to stop  
him." I finished.  
"Not only because of the curse he  
placed on the guardian of the forest,"  
Zelda pondered. "but, my guess  
is he has something bigger planned,  
and maybe he'll try to get the other  
Spiritual Stones."  
"Princess," Impa started, and the  
first emotion I had heard from the  
woman was urgency.  
"Not now, Lady Impa."  
Zelda brushed her off. "What  
could he have in mind?"  
"Princess, we better  
hurry."  
I looked at Impa, then I  
followed her gaze, to the hall through  
the window.  
Both men were gone.  
"Uh, yeah." I started  
tentatively. "I'm with her on this,  
but we may want to hurry."  
"Zelda," came a voice from  
somewhere off in the distance.  
Zelda bit her lip, then perked  
up. "Impa, take Link, and  
make sure he gets out safely.  
I don't want them to find him  
here."  
"Zelda, are you all right?"  
came the voice again.  
"Yes, Your Grace," Impa  
said.  
"Link," Zelda lowered her  
voice to a whisper, and leaned close  
to me. "Start at Kakariko. There  
you should find some clues as to where to go  
next. Find the Gorons."  
Then she dashed off, Impa  
grabbed me around the middle, and  
began to sprint down the halls of the  
castle. I was lucky enough to grab  
Navi out of the air before she was left  
behind.  
"You may want to memorize  
something, boy," Impa said as she  
came to a halt just inside the  
palace gates. "Do you have any  
instruments on you?"  
"Yes, actually," I said.  
I brought out Saria's ocarina.  
As the sun was rising into the eastern  
sky, Navi and I were walking across  
the drawbridge, and back  
into Hyrule Field.  
"What do you say we stop at the  
ranch?" Navi asked. "Maybe  
we can rent a horse, or something."  
"But, the problem with that," I  
replied, "is that I don't know  
how to ride a horse."  
"You can be taught."  
"That's easy for you to say," I  
scoffed.  
"Come on, Link."  
I stopped. "Come on, Link,  
what?" I asked.  
"You need rest, at least."  
"If this matter is as urgent as  
Zelda was implying, then we don't  
have time to rest. Ganondorf could have  
the other Spiritual Stones by tomorrow, and if  
I were in some bed, all comfy, and  
sleeping, when I could do something,  
then," I trailed off.  
Then what?  
The question rattled around in my mind,  
and while she didn't ask it, I  
knew it was on Navi's mind as  
well. But, I didn't know the  
answer, so I let it drop.  
"Fine," I said. "We'll  
go to Lon Lon Ranch. But, we  
have to get to Kakariko Village,  
soon."  
So, we made the trek to the  
ranch, which took several hours.  
Talon and Malon were there, and more  
than happy to let us spend the rest  
of the day, and through the night.  
As the sun was setting, I was  
sitting outside, where Malon was  
humming to one of the horses. After  
finishing the song a few times, she  
looked at me, and winked.  
"What do you think, Fairy  
Boy?" she asked.  
"It's beautiful." I said.  
I looked down, and noticed that I  
was holding the ocarina Saria had  
given to me.  
"Do you know how to play?" Malon  
asked, following my gaze to the  
instrument.  
"Not well," I admitted.  
"Will you play for me?" she asked,  
flashing a smile, and coming to sit  
next to me on the ground.  
"Well," I started to say that I  
didn't know any songs, but she  
interrupted me.  
"Try playing the song I was  
singing. Epona loves that song, and  
that's why it's her song."  
"Oh, uh," I fumbled with the  
ocarina for a moment, and put it to my  
lips.  
I played through the song, and after the  
first three notes, the horse,  
Epona I guessed, was laying  
next to me, nuzzling against my arm,  
as if urging me onward.  
What surprised me the most,  
however, was how easy the song came  
to me. It was almost as if I were a  
completely different person.  
"I thought you couldn't play  
well," Malon quirked an  
eyebrow at me.  
"I didn't," I blinked at  
the ocarina.  
Did I just play that?  
"She likes you," Malon  
noted, patting Epona's muzzle.  
So, the two of us sat there as  
night fell, with Epona leaning  
her head against my right side.  
I was starting to thank Navi for the  
suggestion.  
Before I knew what was happening,  
I was asleep. But, unfortunately  
for me, I was assaulted by a world  
of nightmares.


	16. Kakariko Village And Graveyard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link has made it to Kakariko Village, and he spends his first day there, as a day off, so to speak. He meets a few people, gets along with them, and even tries his hand at archery, again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a little bit longer than I had hoped, but, here you go! Here is yet another chapter for you to enjoy!  
> Speaking of which, how are you liking it, folks?

I didn't tell Navi what  
had occurred in our detour to the  
ranch, and she didn't ask me to.  
She must have known I had had  
nightmares though.  
My guess was that Malon told  
her something like, "He was squirming in  
his sleep," or, "I noticed he was  
not sleeping well."  
But, neither of us brought up any  
negatives as we trekked across the  
field once more. Our journey  
brought us up to the northeast, and when  
we arrived, it seemed we were  
expected.  
"Are you Link, by any chance?" a  
boy not too much older than myself  
called out to us.  
"Yes?" I asked, stopping.  
"Lady Impa informed us you would  
be coming." he nodded.  
"Of course she did," I  
murmured, coming closer to the  
village.  
"Welcome Link," the boy said  
as we entered. "To the Sheikah  
village of Kakariko. This is the  
place that Sheikahs seem  
to thrive in," he leaned in close,  
as I came nearer, "and between the two  
of us, for a nexus for them, it's not  
really shown."  
"Okay," I said, feeling a little  
confused.  
My guide continued to ramble on  
about just about nothing, until my  
attention caught on to what he was  
talking about.  
"Wait, repeat that," I said.  
"I was saying that the Gorons are  
not very welcoming, and very isolated up  
on Death Mountain. It's been a  
few days, which is unusual for them,  
since we've received any  
deliveries from them."  
Then he proceeded to give me a  
lot of information on the Gorons  
themselves, how they were the perfect miners,  
because of their resistance to fire. He  
mentioned something about them eating bomb  
plants, which I thought was a little bit  
ridiculous. I was about to ask how  
they could do this without exploding, but then  
he continued, and explained that there was  
something in the Goron biology which  
gave them, not only rock-hard  
skin, which in itself gave them resistance  
to fire, but a stomach so thick it could  
contain an explosion.  
That was actually kind of  
impressive.  
Finally, we got to the good parts of the  
walk, which was the tour of the village.  
He showed me to several little shops,  
and places like a shooting gallery,  
which I had to admit was a lot better  
than shooting the tiny, wooden  
targets that I spent my isolated  
time making in the forest.  
Remembering this, I felt a little  
sad. It was starting to seem like life  
would never be the same again, now that I  
was sure I would never be a proper  
Kokiri. But, not just that, but I would  
probably never see Saria, or  
any of the others I had known when  
growing up, again.  
Finally, we came to the place  
I would most likely be staying, the  
Kakariko Village Inn.  
It stood a few stories high,  
and was located near a well. And  
across from the well, my guide informed  
me, was the Kakariko Graveyard.  
Not many people went there, and only one  
person, surprisingly, stayed there.  
"But, Dampe's a good man, he  
really is." the boy told me.  
"He may be a hermit, but he is  
welcoming of company. I've been out  
to see him a time or two. But, I  
regret to inform you of one last thing:  
This is where our tour ends, and where  
we part ways. I should let you get  
settled in at the Inn, and I hope  
to see you around the village!" And with a  
warm smile, he dashed off, leaving  
me at the entrance to the inn.  
"Well, that was not a completely  
fruitless endeavor," I sighed,  
looking up at the sky. It had  
taken most of the day just to get here,  
and get shown around, and now there was not  
too much that I wanted to do.  
But, not even half an hour  
later, I found myself at the  
shooting gallery, and surprisingly,  
not lost.  
"Would you like to practice?" asked  
the girl at the counter.  
"Yes please," I answered, and  
began to rummage through my pouch.  
"That will be 20 Rupees."  
Instead of grabbing my slingshot like  
I had intended, I found the red  
Rupee I had stocked there, and  
gave it to her.  
"Do you have your own bow?"  
"Well," I showed her the  
slingshot.  
"Don't tell the manager I have  
done this," the girl said, and came  
down from the stool she had been standing  
on. She was not too much taller than  
I was. "but I have a bow, and a  
quiver of arrows you can borrow."  
I tried to protest, but she shook  
her head, "Everyone must learn  
to shoot, properly, at least  
once."  
I was led into another room which was  
lined with bows, quivers, and arrows of  
all shapes and sizes.  
"Now, let's see what would fit  
you."  
The girl, Mishko according to a  
name tag she wore, took down  
several different bows, and tested  
to see which fit me. Finally, with a  
bow strapped on my back, and a  
quiver on my hip, I entered the  
practice area of the gallery.  
"Your goal, if you know archery  
shops, is to hit all of the targets  
in the time given," Mishko  
explained. "If you can get it done,  
then you will progress to the second  
stage, which is slightly harder.  
Complete that, and there will be a third,  
and final stage. If you can  
complete all three stages in a  
combined amount of time less than our  
best archer, you'll get a prize!"  
"What's the best score so far?"  
I asked.  
"I actually don't know, off the  
top of my head." Mishko  
frowned. "I'd have to ask our  
manager, but unfortunately, she  
is out currently."  
So, I began the easiest stage  
of the shooting gallery, and shot most  
of the targets with ease, while others  
required patience, and time for me  
to study their patterns. Meanwhile,  
the second stage proved to be a  
lot more difficult for an archer like  
myself.  
As I continued, I explained  
to Mishko how I was going "up," so  
to speak, because I started way back  
with stationary targets.  
"Well," she remarked. "I  
don't pretend to understand the  
Sheikah, but I was told that there was  
something they've done, that was  
revolutionary in the archery shops and  
shooting galleries across the world. They  
managed to make the moving targets that  
you see now. And it was just a matter  
of time until the right person in the  
archery industry to come along, and help  
to improve it to what it is now."  
"Fascina," I stopped as I  
let loose an arrow which flew over  
the target I was aiming for.  
Mishko looked, and sounded,  
truly disappointed when she said,  
"Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe  
next time."  
As I was putting everything back,  
I heard a bell ring, the same  
bell that had signaled my entrance,  
and Mishko dashed off to deal with the  
next customer, with a hasty, "I  
hope to see you again sometime soon."  
Outside, I leaned against the  
wall of the shooting gallery, and let  
the cool summer air gust against my  
face, and attempt to topple my  
hat, where Navi was sleeping.  
I hoped my hair was a good bed  
for her.  
"Well, I've checked some more  
of the sights of the village," I  
muttered.  
"Huh?" Navi poked her head  
out from under my hat.  
"Nothing," I said calmly.  
"Just head back to sleep. Tomorrow, we  
are heading up the mountain."  
As I said this, I thought of something  
else. Not for the first time, I asked  
myself: Why was it called Death  
Mountain?  
"Well, I guess I will find  
that out tomorrow."  
So, with that calming thought in my  
head, I walked off to see the  
graveyard, and to meet Dampe.  
When I got there, I found an  
older man walking among the  
tombstones until he saw me  
enter, which caused him to stop.  
"Well, it seems I have another  
visitor. Two in one day, that's a  
new record." He chuckled, and  
looked me over. "You're new to the  
village," he guessed.  
"That I am," I answered.  
"Then, if nobody else has  
done so, I welcome you  
to Kakariko Village, and  
welcome, specifically, to my  
domain: the graveyard."  
"You like the graveyard?" I asked  
curiously.  
"Ever since I was a young boy,  
I loved spending my time in here.  
When I'm near, the spirits of the dead  
seem to speak to me. They welcome  
me."  
A little creepy, but okay, I  
thought. Aloud, I said, "That's  
interesting. How do you know they speak  
to you?"  
"That, my young friend, is a very long  
story. Come, sit with me awhile."  
"All right."  
For a while we sat beside his shack  
near the back of the graveyard.  
Neither of us said anything, we just  
enjoyed the Company of another  
person, another friendly person.  
"I can tell you have lived your  
life isolated from the rest of a  
community, am I correct?"  
"Uh,"  
Dampe laughed, "Don't  
worry, I recognize the look  
of someone who enjoys the lifestyle like  
I do."  
"But," I started to speak again.  
"No need, no need." he  
soothed. "Come, I know it's not very,  
friendly, to the dead, but if you can find  
a hole for me to dig, whatever you  
find, you can keep."  
"Okay." Now I was a little  
confused. From serious talk of the past,  
to a little game, Dampe seemed  
to know how to gain the trust of a person.  
For a hermit, he was actually a bit  
more social than one would suspect.  
An hour of patient walking,  
digging, and refilling the holes dug  
got me two red Rupees richer.  
Finally, I had to say my farewell  
to Dampe, because I needed some rest,  
as Navi suggested.  
"Feel free to come back  
anytime," the gravekeeper said, as  
I walked off, back to the inn where a  
room had been set up for me.  
With the layout, for the most part, known  
to me, I went to my room, and  
carefully laid my hat, with Navi  
underneath, on the table near the head of the  
bed.  
"Good night, Navi," I said  
as I laid down, and shut my  
eyes. Seconds later, I was  
asleep.


	17. The Journey Up Death Mountain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Death Mountain gets its name not from the lower terrain, but from its peak for boulders seem to continuously roll down the slopes from nowhere. Luckily Link doesn't have to journey up high enough to worry about these obstacles, yet...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, writing has had its ups and downs for the past couple of weeks, but I should be getting back into the swing of things, hopefully. I won't be several chapters a day all the time, but I will post as often as I possibly can.

The next morning, bright and early,  
found me talking to Mishko, who had  
somehow heard about my departure today.  
She seemed to be rather fond of me,  
actually.  
After that, I found the boy who was  
my guide the previous day, and he  
was willing to help me out, at least a  
little.  
"I can't take you up the mountain  
completely, but I can assist you."  
he said just before we left. So, he and  
I went, along a series of  
trails that came near Death  
Mountain itself.  
As I looked up at the distant  
peak, I saw one of the reasons it  
was called Death Mountain. High  
above, it seemed an endless supply  
of boulders was raining down from nowhere.  
And at the very top, I could just make  
out a figure with a frame like stone,  
and as tall as one of the tumbling  
boulders. (And those boulders were  
pretty big. I guessed, because  
as far away from them as I was, that was  
all I could do, that the smallest was  
about eight feet tall, and  
probably just as thick.)  
"Who's that?" I asked, pointing  
to the figure.  
"Oh, I've never made it up  
there to ask. Nobody has."  
Hence the name, Death Mountain,  
I thought.  
The first part of our trip up the  
mountain was not too terrible to deal  
with. We passed a few bouncy  
things that Carter, my guide,  
referred to as Tektites. Then we  
came to the mountain's base, and began  
to climb it with little to no difficulty.  
There were no falling rocks, like there  
were higher up, and no more Tektites,  
thankfully.  
But, near sunset, Carter  
stopped me, and said, "I'm sorry,  
Link, but this is as far as I can go.  
Though, I wish you the best of luck.  
And I can impart one final tip  
to you."  
"All right, what's that?"  
The boy grinned, "The Gorons  
have a favourite snack: Bomb  
Flowers. Knowing this, you should also keep  
in mind that near, and within, the city of the  
Goron race, is a rather large  
amount of the explosive plants."  
I turned this over in my head, and  
only ended up with confusion. But, all  
I said was, "All right, thank  
you." And then, Carter ran off,  
back to Kakariko Village, and  
leaving me to deal with the rather large task  
at hand.  
Just by looking up to the sky, I could  
tell that Goron City was still a long  
ways away, and I had a pretty  
long climb ahead of me.  
Best to get started now, I thought.  
At least, while the night is young.  
"Heh! Not so clever, now are  
you?" a young, overconfident,  
Gerudo girl stuck her tongue out  
at a lizard-like creature trapped  
in a cage. "Don't worry, you  
big idiot. When the boy comes here,  
you will be let out. And two pieces  
of the puzzle will be connected for King  
Ganondorf!"  
The Gerudo tossed a red stone  
to the lizard. "And if you can kill the  
boy, while retrieving the  
Emerald, then you can keep that. I will  
be sure that you can."  
The ruby sailed through the bars of the  
cage, and the monster snapped it out  
of the air, eating it whole.  
With her business here done, the  
Gerudo girl moved to leave the  
room. But, she found her way  
blocked by a tall figure.  
"What are you doing in one of our  
most sacred of places?" the  
Goron in front of her asked, his  
speech slow and careful. "How are you  
not burning up, or exploded?"  
"You had your backs turned."  
she tilted her head. "Fair  
game?"  
But, he shook his head.  
"Give us back the stone, and we  
will not punish you for your doings here."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I am not as stupid as I  
look, girl." The Goron's tone  
grew dangerous. "Give us back  
our stone."  
"Really? You're not as stupid as  
you look, well, you could have fooled  
me, because you seem to be as stupid as  
you are thick."  
With this said, the Gerudo girl  
leaped into the air, drawing two  
knives from her belt, and swinging them  
at the rock man before her.  
But, he was a lot quicker than she  
had assumed, and she was grabbed from the  
air, then thrown to the ground. He  
raised a booted foot over her  
face, and the Gerudo thief gulped.  
Never fear death, never fear death,  
she recited in her mind, the mantra  
of the Gerudo she trained with.  
"Give us back the stone, and I  
will think some, before I kill you." he  
warned.  
"What do you need that stupid stone  
for?" she pleaded, trying,  
unsuccessfully, to keep the  
desperation from her tone.  
The next thing she knew for a long  
while was nothing but darkness.  
"Hey, be thankful you don't have  
to climb up the entire mountain."  
Navi said.  
"You're lucky you can fly." I  
retorted as we entered Goron  
City. Just inside the city's  
entrance I leaned against a massive  
pillar.  
"Don't worry, my wings, like  
the legs of any Hylian, or  
other races, get tired." the  
fairy assured me.  
"Hey!"  
A giant figure of rock  
came hurtling out of a little building,  
followed closely by others.  
It was then that I realized the  
streets, if that's what they could be  
called, of Goron City were  
completely empty.  
"Another intruder?" One of the  
Gorons questioned as they raced for us.  
"Who are you?" called the first.  
"I'm Link," I answered.  
"I'm a Hylian who has come  
here to speak with," I stopped.  
Who had I come to speak with?  
"He has come to speak with  
Darunia about the Spiritual Stone of  
Fire." Navi finished.  
"And who are you?" asked a  
second Goron, pointing to her.  
"I am Navi, a fairy from  
the,"  
"We know where your kind is from."  
"You seek Darunia, do you?"  
Their expressions hardened.  
It seems we've stumbled upon  
a problem of theirs.  
"Darunia has locked himself in  
his room for several days, and we have  
had no response, other than for us  
to leave him be."  
"Oh." I bit my lip.  
One of the Gorons, who seemed  
to have a black eye, stepped forward,  
and whispered in the ear of the leader.  
"What's wrong?" I asked  
finally, thinking I might be able  
to help. (But, secretly I hoped  
there was nothing wrong.)  
"The Spiritual Stone you speak of,  
the Goron Ruby, has gone  
missing."  
"And we know who stole it!" a  
Goron piped up.  
"Darunia caught the Gerudo  
who fed it to King Dodongo."  
"King who?"  
"He's a very, very big variant  
of the Dodongo species, they are  
lizard-like creatures that live in  
climates with high heat." Navi  
explained.  
"The fairy is correct. But,  
the problem is: When Darunia  
tried to get the stone back, it  
didn't work."  
"The girl was silent." another  
Goron remarked.  
"So, we have a Gerudo as our  
captive, or, we did until she  
died."  
"How did she die?" I asked  
curiously.  
If she was a girl, then she could  
not be close to dying, either because of  
disease or '  
"We found her the day before  
yesterday, with her ropes gone, and a  
knife in her chest."  
The grim remark brought silence  
to us.  
"I think I might know what  
to help your leader with." I said after  
a few minutes had passed.  
"You do?"  
"Yeah."  
"Then, by all means, try. Oh,  
and I'm Elda, of the Gorons, by the  
way."


	18. In The Forest Of the Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link has a plan, which brings back several memories, and a lot of doubt. Two questions he poses, can he, the hero, be heroic enough, and will he come at the right time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the reason writing was a little down, it took several tries for me to just come up with a name! (And yes, I have to have a name, when you're me, it has to.) It's not too long, but I hope you enjoy it!

"Come on, Link, it can't be that  
bad, can it?" Navi said, fluttering  
in front of me.  
"Yes," I said, slumping against  
the side of the bridge that led from the  
outside world of Hyrule, into the  
forests of the Kokiri.  
It had taken several days just  
to return to this place, thanks to the  
weather. The Lons would have offered a  
ride, Malon was insistent that she do  
so, for some strange reason, but they were  
off somewhere delivering milk.  
Back in Goron City, I had  
said I had an idea, but now that I  
was as close as I was, I was not so  
sure that it would work. We came to the  
forest so that I could see, and speak with,  
Saria because she knew something that was  
amazing for cheering people up.  
Well, let's get this over with,  
I thought steeling myself for what was  
to come.  
I tentatively stepped across the  
rest of the bridge, and into the magical  
forest. But, it didn't seem so  
magical now.  
The first thing I noticed was some of the  
plants withering and dying, slumped over  
in an attempt to reach through some  
sort of substance stuck to it,  
preventing it from getting sunlight.  
"What happened?" I asked.  
"Link!"  
A horde of Kokiri, followed  
closely by their fairy companions,  
came racing across the paths of the  
small village with none other than  
Mido in the lead. The  
Know-It-All Brothers, a group  
of four Kokiri that were smarter than  
anybody I had known, were right behind  
him.  
While I was welcomed by the  
entire village, Navi  
flew about, greeting, and being  
greeted by, all the other  
fairies.  
"Where were you?"  
"You left us!"  
"Come on, tell us! What  
happened? The Deku Tree died,  
you left, and now Saria's gone  
too."  
That hit me worse than the  
weird Golden Skulltulas I  
fought in the Deku Tree those several  
days ago.  
"What do you mean, Saria  
left?" I asked, looking at  
Mido worriedly.  
"Just like with you, she left during the  
night. Not the same night, but still,  
we woke up, and Fado went to see  
her about something, and she wasn't in her  
house."  
"We've looked everywhere we can,  
and the Skull Kids have done what they  
can in the Lost Woods. Nothing."  
"I think I may know where she  
went," I said, hoping I was right.  
"You do?"  
"Where?!" everyone demanded at  
once.  
"Just, let me go find her," I  
remarked.  
The Kokiri scrambled out of my  
way, and I walked toward the  
entrance to the Lost Woods.  
During the years I had  
to survive Mido's bullying, when  
it was bullying, I had a few  
places of solitude, a place  
I could go to cry, to sleep, to hide.  
One of these places had been shown  
to me by Saria herself.  
"If ever you need a shoulder  
to cry on, cannot find me, look for  
me here," she had told me. "This  
is called the Sacred Meadow.  
According to legends, it was the resting  
place for a weapon of great power."  
"A weapon?" I had said. "Could  
it stop Mido."  
Her eyes almost twinkled as she  
chuckled.  
"It is said, it could stop the  
night." Saria whispered.  
I looked around the meadow she had  
taken me to, my mouth agape.  
"This is amazing," I said in  
awe.  
"Don't forget, you can find me,  
when no one else can."  
"Link!" Navi screeched,  
bringing me out of my memory.  
"What?" I asked, jumping in  
surprise.  
"Where are we going?"  
"Saria told me something a few  
years ago that could give us some  
hints." I explained. "We're  
going through the Lost Woods."  
"We can't!" Navi protested.  
"You'll get us lost! The paths  
change all the time, and,"  
"Navi, relax." I replied.  
"I grew up in the Lost Woods,  
almost. And I would never forget the right  
path to take, to get to where we need  
to."  
I turned back to the dense line  
of trees, and started down one of the  
paths. I felt so confident that I  
could do this because it was something I knew  
how to do well. Well, scratch that,  
I could do archery fairly well, but  
not better than lead someone through the  
Lost Woods, a place where you could  
get lost if you took the wrong  
step, hence its name. Who ever had  
named it that, they did a spot on  
job.  
While the rest of my body was  
focused on walking, and choosing the  
path to take, my mind was somewhere  
else. I was remembering the times I  
had spent with Saria, back before this  
all started.  
Finally, we made it to the meadow,  
and I looked upon it for the first time in  
a year. From one side, where an  
inaccessible ledge stood high above,  
to the center, where a stream ran, to the  
other side where more paths led off  
into unknown territory.  
Through my quick survey of the area,  
I saw no sign of Saria.  
High above, I heard something that  
sounded a lot like an ocarina. I  
followed the sound of the music with my

eyes, and I found her, my  
childhood friend, high in the branches  
of a tree. She sat perfectly  
balanced on the thin part of the tree's  
branch.  
Just as I saw her, Saria  
lowered the ocarina, and nimbly  
jumped down to greet me.  
"Link!" she said, smiling  
brightly. "You came back."  
"I did," I responded,  
blushing shyly. "But, I need your  
help."  
"With what?" she tilted her head  
at me, then at Navi.  
I told her about my journey  
to Kakariko Village, up Death  
Mountain, and the problem at hand.  
"So, do you have any ideas?" I  
finished.  
Saria pursed her lips for a  
moment, and for a few seconds she  
stood there, deep in thought.  
Finally, she sprang into action.  
"Come with me," she said, "I have just  
the thing to help you out!"  
"What's that?" I asked.  
"You are going to help the Goron  
with a song!"  
"A song?" I was a little  
skeptical, but I had to humor  
her. "What kind of song are you  
talking about?"  
"Oh, this song is something  
special, especially to me. I am  
going to teach you my song."  
After a while, we sat together in the  
meadow, listening to the calm water of the  
stream nearby, practice done for the  
day.  
"I think I've got it now."  
I said.  
"Good!" Saria grinned. "If the  
Great Deku Tree was right about you being  
a hero, Link, then I know you'll do  
well. I know you can do it."  
"Thanks, but I don't feel the  
slightest bit heroic," my  
shoulders slumped forward. "I was not  
quick enough to save the Deku Tree.  
What good will I be to Hyrule?  
What if I'm too late to do  
anything?"  
"Link, don't worry," Saria  
placed a comforting hand on mine. "I  
have faith in you. And I am very certain  
that many others do too. Take the  
Kokiri in the forest for example.  
How did they react when you  
returned?"  
"I guess you have a point there."  
I lowered my head. "Thank you,  
Saria."  
"Don't worry about it. Oh,  
and one more tip: You might not guess  
it, but there's many different shortcuts  
in the world that will make your journey a  
lot easier. I think there might  
even be one here in the Woods."  
Saria pointed to one of the paths, and  
smiled cryptically. "Now hurry,  
you have a Goron to cheer up."


	19. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is all well and good that Link has made it to Death Mountain, and Goron City, but it'll take a lot more than that to get the Spiritual Stone.

After Link's departure, Saria  
slumped forward, her happy  
demeanor drained. Her elven ears  
perked up as the footsteps of another  
person came to her.  
"You have no need to fret, Saria.  
He will do just fine."  
"Rauru," Saria murmured,  
standing. "He doesn't realize,"  
"He won't realize," Rauru  
intervened. "He will, in time, but that time  
is not now. We merely need to be  
patient."  
"But,"  
"Saria, have I led you astray  
thus far?" Rauru asked.  
The Kokiri girl lowered her  
head again, "No."  
"If my suspicions are  
correct, you'll be able to help him  
in the future, don't you worry."  
the Hylian turned to walk away.  
"What do you mean?" Saria  
asked, grasping at this hope  
to help Link.  
"You will see. I will watch him,  
and make sure he "develops," shall  
we say."  
As Rauru disappeared into the  
trees, Saria's gaze was brought  
to the night sky high above, where an  
owl hooted as it flew away.  
"Good luck, Link." Saria  
knelt, and clasped her hands together.  
The journey back to Goron  
City slogged on for what seemed an  
eternity, but in fact it was merely a  
couple of hours. I had a little  
trouble getting into the city itself, from the  
woods, but Navi was glad  
to assist.  
"I don't think they'll  
appreciate an explosion opening  
one of their walls," I said, placing  
the Bomb Flower by a cracked  
wall. While it was a little damaged,  
I still didn't feel okay with this  
level of vandalism, if it could be  
called that.  
"Don't worry, it'll be  
fine." Navi assured me. "But,  
this should give you easy access to the  
Eldin Province, from Faron."  
"Uh," I looked at her  
blankly.  
"You don't know about the  
Provinces?" she asked.  
"Not really, no."  
"It's said that Faron, named after a  
water dragon by the same name,  
back in the Era of the Goddess,  
Hylia." Navi explained.  
"You can't be serious about the  
dragon part." I muttered.  
"I am."  
As she continued to explain the  
Provinces, I advanced  
into Goron City, and came across a  
mat.  
"We're on the bottom level,  
right?" I asked after Navi was done  
explaining.  
"Yes. This looks to be the right  
place."  
I approached the door, and  
knocked gently. There was no  
response, so I knocked louder.  
This brought a muffled shout of, "Go  
away!"  
"Well," I pulled my ocarina  
from the pouch on my hip, and raised it  
to my lips. It was time to test if  
the ocarina approach would work.  
As I played her song,  
images of Saria flashed through my  
mind, almost as if someone were  
projecting theme: Images of her  
standing, sitting, playing her ocarina like  
she was when I saw her hours ago,  
or doing other activities.  
The images faded as the sound of a  
door opening came to my ears, and a  
Goron larger than most, but not  
larger than the one at the top of the  
mountain, came forward.  
A fire was gleaming in his eye, not  
literally, as he danced, saying  
"Ooh, hot! Hot!" over and over  
again.  
I lowered the ocarina as the song  
ended, and looked at the Goron.  
"Hello," I said.  
"Greetings, little Hylian!" he  
responded, laughing heartily. He  
seemed to be having the time of his  
life, even without music to dance to.  
"Are you Darunia?"  
"Yes, I am." he confirmed.  
"And who are you?"  
"I'm Link, and this is Navi."  
I introduced, not for the last time  
most likely. (I knew that, because  
I was probably going to be going a  
lot of places, I would need  
to tell a lot of people who I am,  
obviously.)  
"Well met, Link." Darunia  
said. "While I'm not feeling in a  
particularly good mood today, I will not  
crush you, like I have others that tried  
to come."  
I gulped. "Thanks," I  
tried to keep my voice from sounding  
small, but I failed. However, this  
only made Darunia laugh, and  
slap me on the back, which almost  
put me flat on my face.  
"Now, let us talk business.  
Why, Link, have you come to the treacherous  
mountain city of the Gorons?"  
"I've been told I should come  
here, to look for clues I guess,  
as to the location of the second Spiritual  
Stone." I explained. Darunia's  
expression turned from one of calm  
welcoming to cold and grim.  
"Alas, that I cannot help you with."  
he remarked.  
"What happened?" Navi piped  
up.  
"Yeah. We heard their was some  
trouble over in some caverns." I  
silently thanked Navi for her  
input. I had almost forgotten what  
Elda had informed me."  
"You may mean well, my boy,  
but this problem with the Dodongos, it is  
a Goron problem. I regret  
to tell you, one of the Dodongos has  
the Spiritual Stone, and while it  
seems the entirety of the species  
has come to infest our store of Bomb  
Flowers, we are unable to reach it."  
"We, as in the Gorons?" I  
asked.  
"Yes," he confirmed.  
For a long moment, we sat in a  
contemplative silence, me looking  
down at the floor, and pondering what  
I should do to convince Darunia.  
If this whole thing was true, and  
lately I was having a rather hard time  
believing it was not, then I was going  
to need the Spiritual Stones, and I  
couldn't just let this one sit in the  
stomach of a Dodongo.  
Finally, an idea struck me,  
and I reached into my pouch, and pulled  
out the Kokiri Emerald.  
"I said that I needed to find the  
Spiritual Stone, and added that it was my  
second," I explained, showing the  
emerald to Darunia. "The Great  
Deku Tree, in Kokiri Forest,  
was dying of a curse placed on him  
by Ganondorf, this Gerudo guy.  
So I went in, somehow killed a  
gigantic spider, and got the stone  
just before the tree died." I recounted.  
"Are you implying that you could  
possibly take on the dangerous  
task of getting into Dodongo's  
Caverns, and killing the king of those  
fire-breathing lizards, so you can  
obtain the Spiritual Stone of Fire,  
the Goroon's Ruby, to prevent  
him from gaining access to the Sacred  
Realm?" Darunia finished.  
I blinked at Navi.  
I had never heard the last bit,  
not entirely, but nevertheless, I  
nodded.  
"I'm at least willing to give it  
a try."  
"Your assistance would be greatly  
appreciated, Link. But, that  
shield on your back, that will do you no  
good against the fire of the caverns."  
"Okay," I replied. "Where  
would you suggest getting a better  
shield?"  
"If you can stay, at least one  
night, I can get you one. As a  
matter of fact, one of our few  
blacksmiths is working on one. I  
have heard tell that it could be done  
tomorrow."  
"One night's stay in the  
Goron's City?" I asked.  
Darunia nodded.  
"Though, you don't necessarily  
have to stay here. Kakariko, I have  
heard, has a his nice inn you could  
stay at. If you were to stay there, I  
could call for you when the shield is  
ready. Deal?"  
"Deal."


	20. The Royal Messenger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What could possibly give Link entry BACK onto Death Mountain?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry all for the short chapter, but it's been a little difficult, "straying" as I am. But, I hope you are enjoying!

"You can't pass."  
"But," I protested.  
"Can't you read the sign, boy?!  
The road is closed!" the guard  
snapped, cutting me off. "Only  
those that have permission from the Royal  
Family can pass to the treacherous  
trail of Death Mountain, now  
move along!"  
My second stay in Kakariko  
Village had gone just about as well  
as the first, except that, as it turns  
out that Carter was busy, and unable  
to help sneak me through to the trail  
again. I tried to tell the guard, the  
one I had just finished with, that  
Darunia, the "leader" of the  
Gorons, had sent for me to go  
to Goron City, but that didn't  
work.  
"Permission from the Royal  
Family?" I asked Navi as we  
moved on, starting to walk around the  
village.  
"He means, something like a letter from  
someone like the king, or Princess  
Zelda." my fairy explained.  
"But, it'll take too long for us  
to get back to Hyrule Castle,  
get inside, and see who we can  
talk to, to get something like that."  
"Then, luckily enough for you, Link,  
because I have come to find you, so I may  
give you another of Zelda's  
gifts."  
As we were headed passed the well,  
she must have heard us, for I found my  
path blocked by Impa. In one hand,  
she held a folded piece of  
paper, a strange seal holding it  
closed.  
"What's this?" I asked, and  
immediately felt stupid.  
"It's a letter from Princess  
Zelda. Take it." I did so.  
"Now, I hope the Princess is  
right in trusting you like she is."  
Impa turned, and walked away  
without another word or glance at me.  
"Why do I get the feeling that  
she doesn't like me?" I asked  
Navi.  
"It's neither like, nor dislike. I  
sense that she doesn't trust you  
yet."  
"Yet?" I questioned.  
"Let's just get back to that  
guard."  
So, off we went, back to talk  
to the guard at the entrance to Death  
Mountain Trail.  
"I thought I told you," he  
started, but before he could snap something  
insulting to, or about, me, I  
flashed him the letter with the seal of the  
Hyrulean Royal Family.  
Tentatively, he reached for the  
paper, and broke the seal. His eyes  
narrowed when he read it.  
"What kind of game is our dear  
Princess playing now? She  
writes: "Link is under my orders  
to save Hyrule." Well then,  
"Mr. Hero," I guess you can  
pass."  
He handed the letter back, and began  
to open the way.  
"Just know, you may want a better  
shield if you plan on climbing  
Death Mountain. After all, it is  
an active volcano. Market  
Town might have the shield you need."  
"Thanks," I replied, tucking  
Zelda's letter safely away in the  
pouch Saria gave me.  
"Oh, and if you are in Market  
Town, may I ask a favor of  
you?"  
"Sure," I responded  
hesitantly. "What is it?"  
"My son has been begging me  
for a mask from the shop that has just opened  
in Market Town. Would you be willing  
to go there, and get one for me? I'm  
afraid I can't because of my job."  
He turned back to me as the way  
was completely opened.  
"I guess I could try," I  
answered.  
"Thank you!" The guard smiled  
brightly. "You may pass."  
So, up I went, traveling on  
the same trail I used before, and  
keeping as far from the Tektites as  
I could get, without falling off of the  
trail.  
"Before you go into the caverns, Link,  
I must give you something. It will help  
you to advance." Darunia held something  
out to me when I returned. "With it,  
even a little fella like yourself can pick  
up a Bomb Flower."  
I took the "gift," and examined  
it carefully. It was a strange,  
scarlet bracelet.  
"Now, come with me, and I will lead  
you to Dodongo's Cavern. If you can  
complete this, I will give you the  
Spiritual Stone." Then he leaned in  
close, "and after you clear out the  
caverns, you will have saved the Goron  
race."  
"Oh," I nodded, and followed as  
we began the trip further up the  
mountain.  
High above, as the sun was setting  
over Hyrule, and the active  
volcano that was Death Mountain, an  
owl soared through the clear evening sky,  
his wings beating rhythmically as he  
carefully watched the boy below.  
Link was making a lot of  
progress, the owl thought to itself. He  
was certainly doing a lot better  
than he had expected.  
The owl, known as Kaepora  
Gaebora, swooped down as the  
Goron that Link was following,  
stopped, and turned to speak with the  
Hylian.  
"Now, before we enter Dodongo's  
Cavern, there is a test for you  
to pass."  
"Another one?" The boy asked,  
lifting an eyebrow. "It seems,  
lately, that I have to take some sort  
of test to do anything around here."  
Darunia chuckled. "No need  
to worry yourself, Link. This test is  
simple. It is to show your strength.  
Can you open the way to the caverns?"  
Darunia pointed to a large  
boulder that blocked the entrance that  
Kaepora Gaebora knew would  
lead into the Goron's store of  
Bomb Flowers.  
"I don't know." Link  
answered. "What do I have to do?"  
He inspected the rock, then looked  
around. Beside him was an unlit Bomb  
Flower, and a sign that said, "Do  
not enter without permission."  
Kaepora Gaebora hooted  
to himself, and began to fly away. He  
would be unable to watch the boy's  
progress from this point forward. All  
he could do was hope for his success.  
As the owl winged his way across  
Hyrule Field he heard, more  
than felt, the ground shake as an  
explosion tore through Death Mountain.  
Stalchildren fell over, and  
Skulltulas were sent tumbling from  
their position on ledges, their  
purchase lost.  
It seemed that Kaepora  
Gaebora was the only one not  
affected.


	21. The Flames Of Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Into the caverns Link goes, but he doesn't feel quite right.

I tried to grab onto something as  
the ground shook, but thankfully  
Darunia caught me before I fell.  
"Whoa there, careful with those."  
he chided. "You could get a big  
headache from those." he set me on  
my feet, and faced me toward the  
entryway into Dodongo's Cavern.  
"Good luck, Link." Darunia  
said.  
"You aren't coming with?" I asked.  
"The Gorons' mortal enemy  
has infested the caverns where we grow  
our Bomb Flowers. I cannot go with  
you."  
I sighed. "Fine," with Navi,  
who had come out from under my hat,  
fluttering and glittering beside me, I  
entered my second trial.  
Inside was a second cracked  
wall, and passed that, I heard an  
unfamiliar bubbling sound.  
"Is it all warm in here," I  
asked Navi.  
"This is home to the Dodongos,  
when they decide to infest this place.  
And the Dodongos are fire-breathing  
lizards," she pointed out.  
"Oh, "!. And to get passed this  
wall,"  
"Yep, Bomb Flowers." she  
agreed.  
Another explosion later, and I  
had a good view of the caverns. Red  
liquid bubbled in pools off to either  
side of a metallic bridge that  
looked too flimsy to hold a young  
Hylian, let alone a massive  
Goron. Across one of the pools, and  
staring straight at me, was what I  
suspected was one of the Dodongos.  
"If this is just one of them, I'd  
hate to see the king," I muttered,  
understanding that I would have to see the king  
of the Dodongos anyway.  
"Uh, Link, you might want  
to move, right now."  
"Why?" I asked.  
"Remember when I said that they are  
"fire-breathing?" That's why."  
I jumped to the side as a blast  
of fire rushed passed me. A cry  
from Navi alerted me that this was not a  
good idea, and I didn't realize  
this until I felt no ground beneath  
me feet for a longer time than there was  
before I jumped.  
I saw the bridge pass me as  
I fell to a lower level, but  
fortunately for me, it seemed the  
Goddesses were on my side, and I  
landed on the bridge below.  
Above me I heard the clanking as  
the Dodongo trotted over to the edge.  
Navi flew down to join me, and  
said, "I hate to break it to you, but  
that just so happens to be one of the  
babies of the species."  
"That figures," I groaned, and  
stepped forward as another searing blast  
passed me.  
"We can't dodge it forever,"  
Navi pointed out.  
"And it can't use its attack  
rapidly, so I have noticed." I  
fired back.  
"You have a plan?"  
"I have an extremely reckless  
plan that you're probably not going  
to like." I responded.  
Navi sighed. "Fine, go ahead.  
But, be as careful as you can."  
I felt a slight tingle run  
through my body as she said this, and like  
before, when I fought against Queen  
Gohma, I felt a lot stronger,  
and more agile. Almost like an expert,  
I leaped upwards, and to the side as  
the Dodongo sent a stream of fire  
my way for a third time, and I  
grappled with the edge of the ledge above  
me with one hand. The other hand drew the  
Kokiri sword, and slashed up  
at my attacker. Luckily enough  
for me, I cut deep into the  
lizard's armored forelegs, nearly  
sending it over the side.  
"Link, watch out!"  
"Already on it." I replied in a  
voice that sounded unlike my own.  
I expertly flipped up, and over  
the beast, onto the bridge just as he  
did fall, and exploded.  
How did I know that that was going  
to happen? And more importantly,  
what in the name of the Three  
Goddesses is going on here?  
I started to move once I landed  
on my feet, and I leaped across  
to another bridge. I saw Navi  
a little bit away, flying toward me.  
"Do you realize, you could have gotten  
killed?" she asked.  
"Yes," I said, in that same,  
unfamiliar voice. "That's why  
I told you, it was a very reckless  
plan, and you were not going to like it."  
"Well, you were more than  
correct." she huffed, placing her  
tiny hands on her hips.  
"Come on, it can't be that bad."  
"It can!" she retorted. "Now,  
let's move on."  
Not too long after that, I fought  
off another Dodongo, and had this one  
explode near one of the cracked  
walls in the room. (This was a lot  
more difficult than you would expect.)  
However, it didn't even feel like  
I was doing the work. It felt like  
someone else was controlling my body,  
and Navi didn't seem to notice  
the change. That, or she was refraining  
from asking the same questions I was asking  
myself.  
After that, in the newly-opened  
section, I saw two strange  
statues. As well, in the center  
of the room, were two switches, and  
across from me was a door leading further  
into the caverns.  
Just now, I also realized that at  
strange intervals were plants that  
seemed to be withering and wilting.  
"I guess those are the Bomb  
Flowers that aren't able to grow, because  
of the Dodongos?" I asked, pointing  
to one as an example.  
"Yes."  
"All right then." I remarked,  
and walked forward to meet my next  
puzzle.  
The switches were placed apart from  
each other just enough so that one could stand, with  
both feet, on them. When I tried  
this, the door opened, and when I  
stepped off, it closed again. I  
experimented with this a little, by keeping  
both feet on the switches, leaning  
forward, and jumping that the opening, but the  
door was quicker than me.  
How do I do this? my normal  
voice asked.  
"Hey Navi, can you try to hold  
these down?" I asked, stepping off  
of the switches.  
"I don't think I'm big enough  
to stand on both." she replied,  
fluttering down to try. But, she was  
right. One leg fell short of the  
second switch, so the door was  
unable to open.  
"What about those statues, do you  
think they weigh enough?" my  
unfamiliar, more adult, voice  
asked.  
"They might. Do you think you can  
manage to push them?" Navi  
inquired.  
"It's worth a shot to try."  
I walked over to one of the  
statues, and tried to move it.  
Surprisingly, I could, and it slid  
across the ground easily, coming to rest  
on one of the two switches.  
I did the same with the other, and the  
door creaked open, letting in a  
blast of hot air. With the burst of  
wind came the smell of smoke, and a  
stream of fire, followed closely  
by a couple more lizards.  
"More Dodongos?" I asked.  
"Nope, these are called  
Lizalfos. They are like miniature  
Dodongos." Navi informed.  
"But, they're the same size as the  
babies!" I protested as one  
tried to ram into me. I leaped out  
of the way just in time, and it crashed into a  
nearby wall.  
Pulling my sword out once more,  
I fended off the pair of  
Lizalfos, and proceeded into the  
next room.  
"It looks like we have it easy this  
time, Navi," I remarked as I  
finally came to a door larger than  
the others. "My guess is that, through  
that door is the king of the Dodongos."  
I opened the door to find myself in  
a room much like the others, but it was about  
the size of Kokiri Forest's little  
village. And in the very center, taking  
up most of the room, a cage.  
And within that cage '


	22. The Caged Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some would call this a trial, others would call this "doing someone a favo." However, someday Link might call saving the Gorons, a heroic feat.

Within the cage was the largest  
Dodongo yet, and immediately I knew  
that I was right when I said I would  
hate to see this gigantic beast.  
King Dodongo, with glaring red  
eyes, was ramming full-force into the  
bars of the cage, attempting to break  
free. Apparently, it thought I was  
its next meal.  
The big surprise, however, was  
that the bars were holding every body slam.  
"Is that him?" I asked Navi.  
"Yes," she confirmed.  
"How is he caged, if the  
Gorons don't like coming in here because  
of them?" I mused. The Dodongo  
roared, which shook the entirety of the  
room, and rattled the cage.  
"My guess is that it was the  
Gerudo that came here. The one that fed  
the stone to it." Navi replied. "You  
know, the one that Darunia said killed  
herself."  
"How are we going to get the stone  
then?" I peered at the king.  
Sensing something I couldn't, it  
roared again, and slammed its head against  
the cage once more.  
"I think the better question is: How  
long do we have before it gets loose?"  
the fairy said.  
"You might want to go under my  
hat."  
Navi had enough time to nod, and dash  
to safety before King Dodongo breathed  
fire through the bars, and toward me.  
My newfound dexterity helped me  
dodge out of the way, but the cage was  
less fortunate than I was. It  
must have taken a rather large beating, for  
one side of it just fell away,  
letting the giant beast free.  
"This is not good." I muttered as  
he rushed toward me. I swiped my  
sword at him, but my attack  
didn't even dent him. He swiped  
at me, knocking me away, and into a  
wall. Navi, and my hat, also were  
sent flying, and I hoped that she was  
able to catch herself.  
So much for that being safe, I thought.  
"Get to safety!" I cried out  
just before I lost sty breath as my  
body made physical contact with the  
floor. I hoped nothing was broken,  
though it seemed I was fine.  
"You want some?!" I cried out  
to King Dodongo.  
His only answer was an enraged  
roar that sounded a lot like a question along  
the lines of, "Why aren't you dead?!"  
"Well, come and get me!"  
I leaped high into the air, bringing  
my sword over my head in an arc  
aimed straight for his face. (Or,  
what seemed to be his face.) My  
blade thudded against him, and stuck,  
leaving me hanging about six feet off  
of the ground. This futile attack  
served only one purpose: To make  
the Dodongo king even more mad.  
Now that I thought about it, I  
wouldn't have been very happy if I had  
been caged for, however long he had  
been, let free because I breathed  
fire on my prison, and tried  
to get my first meal in who knows how  
long, and been stabbed in the face.  
I pulled at the sword, and  
began to swing from side to side.  
What was I doing? That wasn't  
me trying to get my sword back.  
What was my plan?  
"What are you doing?" Navi  
shrieked.  
"I'm going to get on its  
back."  
"What?!" She cried, and I  
thought at the same time. "You can't do  
that! He'll kill you!"  
King Dodongo stomped around the  
cavernous room, trying to get me  
off of his face. Surprisingly  
enough, managed to hold onto him, but  
just barely.  
After his rampage, I swung  
like a pendulum, back and forth, still  
high above the ground.  
Whatever you're going to do, I  
suggest you do it fast, I thought  
to myself. I hoped that whoever, or  
whatever, had taken over my body  
heard.  
Finally, with enough momentum, I  
managed to catch one of my booted  
feet on the back of the Dodongo's  
neck, and for a moment I hung there,  
nearly upside down. From there,  
I somehow used that little purchase  
to pull myself up so that I could climb  
backwards up the angered Dodongo.  
For a moment, our eyes met, and I  
got the slight feeling he was pleading  
that I not do what I was going to do,  
whatever that was.  
"I'm sorry," I mouthed,  
and for the first time my voice, the voice  
I hardly remembered now, was  
prominent. "but, I have to."  
Finally one last tug brought my  
blade out of the Dodongo's armored  
flesh, and blood the color of fire  
dripped down to the ground.  
As I stabbed downwards into the  
king's neck, and he began  
to crumple, he twisted his head  
around to meet my gaze.  
(Seriously, that can't be possible!)  
His grotesque features showed a  
sorrowful expression.  
"Link!" Navi cried. "Get  
off!" I wrenched at my sword,  
but I was too late.  
Before I went into a world of dreams,  
I saw a blinding white light, then  
complete darkness. I heard the sound  
of stone hitting stone, and I felt  
an intense pain run through every bone in  
my body as something landed neatly in  
my right hand.  
My last thought was, is this going  
to occur often?  
Darunia paced back and forth  
in front of the entrance to Dodongo's  
Caverns about Link went inside.  
He could hear several explosions,  
and an unusual thought came into his  
head: I hope the kid's okay.  
Finally, as the moon reached its  
peak, the mountain began to shake  
violently. High above, smoke  
swirled about the top of the volcano  
which erupted soon after the smoke was  
seen.  
After the lava disappeared however,  
the volcano continued to shake. It  
seemed all of Hyrule was in a  
quake.  
That's it, the leader of the Gorons  
thought, I am going into check on the  
boy. I must.  
"Elda, Daran, come to me!" he  
shouted, and two Gorons raced out  
from the city. He didn't waste  
any time when they reached him, "Watch  
the entrance. I am going inside."  
"But, Darunia,"  
As one final, massive,  
explosion rang out, Darunia raced  
through the entryway, and into the caverns,  
not hearing their protestations.  
"Link!"  
He slammed his shoulder into a  
door, and burst through. No obstacle  
stopped the Goron until he reached  
the young Hylian, crumpled on the  
ground of the chamber where he had  
caught that Gerudo. Settled on his  
chest was that fairy, what was her name?  
Navi, that's it.  
And in his hand was the Spiritual Stone  
of Fire, the Goron's Ruby.  
"You did it, kid, thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note:  
> This chapter is not as good as some of the others, in my opinion, and for that I apologize. Nevertheless, like always, I hope you enjoy it, and the others.


	23. The Hero's Sleep

Princess Zelda snuck from her  
chambers, and moved stealthily along  
one of the corridors of the castle.  
Far below her bedroom, the  
princess had heard shouting from her  
father, the king. Who he was arguing with was  
a complete mystery, and Zelda had  
embarked on this "mission" to find out.  
She gasped as the castle began  
to shake, rattling the glass in the  
windows, and no doubt causing a  
scare throughout the entire kingdom.  
Something big was going on.  
Zelda clasped her hands together,  
and closed her eyes, standing as still as  
possible in the center of the corridor.  
She seemed to go into a trance-like state  
for what seemed to her only several  
seconds, but what turned out to be  
almost an entire hour.  
"Link," she whispered.  
Unknowingly, Zelda had spoken the  
name at the very same moment that several  
dozen others did from Hyrule  
Castle, to Kokiri Forest.  
Meanwhile, Saria had ceased  
her playing, and Rauru stopped his  
meditation.  
All those that knew Link, whether  
they did directly, were all hoping  
he, their only hope, was pulling  
through whatever had happened. Some could  
scrye with magic, like the Princess,  
and Rauru, but others had a stronger  
bond with the young hero-to-be. They  
all sensed the danger he was in, but  
only one knew the boy would live  
to save another day.  
The morning after the explosion on  
Death Mountain, Darunia, followed  
closely by Daran, and Elda,  
lumbered into Goron City with the little  
Hylian slung over his back, a  
tiny blue Fairy clinging to his  
tunic.  
Those passing by the trio could just  
barely hear the Fairy whispering  
over and over again, "You're going to be  
okay. You're going to be  
absolutely okay. Come on,  
Link."  
But, the boy she clung to made  
no movement. His breathing was short,  
and while Darunia had diagnosed that  
he would live, his condition was  
signaling otherwise.  
In his private rooms,  
Darunia laid the boy on a  
small cot which other Gorons had  
placed, as asked. He stood over  
Link for several long minutes,  
keeping watch over him and Navi,  
hoping that the Hylian hero would wake  
up soon.  
All it requires is patience,  
he told himself. There is nothing more you  
can do for him. If it weren't for you,  
he would have had a fever to deal with  
too.  
As for the matter of the Ruby,  
Darunia left it clutched in  
Link's right hand, where he had found  
it when he came across him.  
"Rest in peace, little Hylian."  
Darunia said, doing his best to pat the  
boy gently on the shoulder.  
"Navi, I hope I can trust you  
will find me when, and dare I say  
if, he wakes up?" the Fairy  
nodded weakly.  
Navi watched as Darunia  
walked from the room. Her tiny arms  
were so tired that she could barely hold  
onto Link, but that was the only way  
she could know he was still with her, still  
alive.  
"Link!" she remembered crying  
several times during his brawl with  
King Dodongo. For most of the fight,  
it seemed the massive lizard would  
win, especially when Link was  
slammed against the wall, several  
times.  
The Kokiri had a special  
bond with their Fairy companions.  
And in this case, Link did too,  
whether or not he was a Kokiri. This  
bond was deep inside the child and the  
Fairy. The pain of one was the pain  
of the other. The sorrow of one was the  
sorrow of the other. Individually, they  
were two halves of a whole. And when  
they were separated '  
Navi had never heard mention of  
what actually happened was a  
Kokiri was separated from their  
Fairy. Everyone she asked would just  
stay silent, looking grave.  
Navi felt a tear roll down  
the side of her face, and splash on  
Link's.  
"There's not anything that you can do."  
Darunia had said to her. "Everyone  
just has to be patient. He will  
recover, in time."  
Navi also remembered meeting the  
big Goron's gaze, and she  
recognized what went unsaid, and she  
was thinking the same thing.  
They had to hope that Ganondorf  
would not come looking for him, or the  
Goron's Ruby.  
"Please, Link," Navi  
put her head on Link's bloody  
shoulder, and closed her eyes.  
"Please wake up." she said.  
"We need you, I need you."  
It wasn't until a week  
later when they had any signs of  
Link's recovery.  
Navi was the first to notice, as she  
would never leave his side. She just  
clung to his tunic day and night,  
waiting for something to show her that her  
Hylian was alive.  
At first, Navi could remember  
her questioning of the Great Deku Tree  
when she and Link were paired together.  
She had heard rumors about the boy  
who was ridiculed, and spent most of  
his time secluded in the Lost  
Woods, or at other isolated  
spots in the forest. But, now that she  
had come to know him a little more, she found  
that she kind of liked him.  
Finally, as she woke up one  
morning, her bloodshot eyes  
fell on his open ones.  
"Link!"  
"Navi?" he asked.  
"Link, you're alive, thank the  
Goddesses!" that was all the answer  
she could give to him.  
"What happened?" he asked, and  
tried to raise himself. This elicited  
a sharp grunt of pain, and Navi  
gently placed her hands on his  
shoulders, doing her best to lay him  
down, and keep him down for now.  
Though, on her back, she felt a  
sharp pain, and she suspected that this  
was what he was enduring. Like him, she  
groaned, the pain unbearable.  
How do some Fairies do this? she  
asked herself, then remembered that none,  
that she knew of, had been paired with  
someone who was supposed to be the  
hero of Hyrule.  
As Navi was attempting,  
painfully, to pull herself upright again,  
Darunia opened the door, and came  
into the room.


	24. Awakening

I swam up through the depths of  
pain, and sleep. The images that  
haunted my dreams: Ganondorf,  
fire, that explosion and others, were  
fading away as I began to come back  
to reality.  
I barely recognized the  
room I was in at first, but then  
I remembered, I was in Goron  
City.  
"What happened to me?" I  
asked. My voice was so hoarse,  
and my throat was so dry it hurt  
to talk. I tried once more to raise  
my hand to wipe the sweat from my  
face. There was another liquid, just  
a drop of it, on my left cheek,  
and I couldn't quite identify it.  
Though, my efforts to wipe it away  
were stopped by Navi, who flinched as  
she pushed my hand down, again.  
"We survived the explosion,"  
she said soothingly. "You were caught  
in the blast of King Dodongo as he  
died. It nearly killed the both of  
us, mainly because I'm bonded with you."  
"You did a fine job in the  
Dodongo's Caverns, Link."  
Darunia said. "Some of the Gorons  
have already gone inside while you were  
asleep, and they found that the stock of  
Bomb Flowers just waiting to bloom,  
is well on its way to ending our  
"draught," and bringing us back  
to happiness!" He chuckled, but then  
his expression grew serious.  
"On the other hand," he continued,  
"you got the Spiritual Stone, and there  
is no way I can keep it here after  
what happened in the last few  
weeks, so please, keep it with you."  
"You want me," I closed my  
eyes. I was trying to comprehend all  
of this at once: Navi had almost  
died, all because of my recklessness,  
and Darunia was giving me the  
Spiritual Stone of Fire, which I  
had recovered, with my reckless  
actions. And as if that weren't enough  
to pile onto my head, I looked  
to Darunia once more, who said, "There  
is one last thing I can do, to show  
my gratitude for what you have done,  
Link."  
While the Goron reached down  
to help me up, Navi curled  
protectively around me, or, as  
much as she could.  
"I am making you my sworn  
brother." I grunted as Darunia  
patted my back in what he must have  
thought was a gentle way. But, for me,  
I almost toppled to the ground, flat  
inn my face.  
While I tried to regain my  
balance, Navi berated Darunia,  
who only chuckled.  
"Sorry, my dear Fairy,"  
he said, "Not sure of my own  
strength, I suppose." he looked  
down at the ground.  
"I remember you told me,  
several days ago, that you were seeking  
out all of the Spiritual Stones, and  
you proved this to me by showing me the  
Kokiri Emerald. Now that you have  
saved our city, the Goron's  
Ruby belongs to you," Darunia  
summarized later that night.  
"Granted, if it wasn't stolen  
in the first place, and this whole mess  
started, you would have had it after a  
smaller trial."  
"Right, your point is?" I  
asked, feeling a little better.  
"My point, Brother Link,  
is that you need only one more Spiritual  
Stone, and I am afraid that will be  
a little more difficult, from what I have  
heard." Darunia concluded.  
"A little more difficult? You mean,  
moreso than an explosion?" I  
muttered.  
"The Zoras are the holders of the  
last stone, the Zora Sapphire,  
and I do not think they will give it up  
very easily, not with their princess,  
Ruto, missing, and their guardian,  
Jabu-Jabu on a rampage."  
I perked up at this. "What do  
you mean?"  
"I've only heard from some of the  
people in Kakariko that Princess  
Ruto has gone missing, just like I  
said, and their guardian," he paused.  
"well, you'll see for yourself when you  
get there."  
"Any other suggestions?" I  
groaned, slumping over.  
"That you leave tomorrow, if possible.  
The sooner you get started, the  
sooner, hopefully, you can get the  
stone, and Ganondorf can't." We  
all fell silent after that, a somber  
tone falling over the little conversation  
that would follow later.  
I couldn't sleep much that night,  
and I could sense that Navi couldn't  
either. But, we didn't say anything  
until the sun rose above the smoky  
peak of Death Mountain.  
"Do you have any ideas?" I asked  
her as she blearily opened her  
eyes.  
"More sleep?" she answered.  
"If I got any, I'd  
agree with you on the "more" part." I  
replied, setting the winged blue  
ball of light onto my left  
shoulder.  
"Here's a suggestion for you both,  
go get a little power." Darunia  
appeared from the door to his room.  
"I hear there's a certain,  
special, Fairy up near the top  
of the mountain that could help you out."  
"The Great Fairy!" Navi  
perked up. "I completely forgot  
that there was one here on Death  
Mountain!"  
"Yes," Darunia approached.  
"She and I have communicated several  
times before, though I get the slight  
feeling that she doesn't like me."  
"Could it be the fact that you could  
pick her out of the air, and crush her  
with your bare hands?" Navi  
murmured. Darunia grinned, and  
chuckled.  
When he got a hold of himself,  
he said, "No, I do not think that is  
it."  
"Well, let's go there first,  
then." I interrupted Navi, who  
I noticed was about to retort with  
something that might have included several  
insults. "After all, I do not know  
how much distance we have to cover." I  
refrained from mentioning that I was the  
only one doing the covering of that  
distance.  
"Right."  
"Have a safe trip, brother,  
or, try to, and be sure to come  
visit soon." Darunia called  
after us as we left.  
Somehow, I got the feeling that  
I would be coming back. It might be a  
long time, but I felt like I would be  
seeing this place sometime soon.  
"Oh," Darunia shouted to me.  
"And don't forget to keep yourself from  
getting blown up!"


	25. Power Upgrade

I flexed my sword hand, and  
tried, once again, to pick up the  
Bomb Flower. While doing so,  
I looked at Navi, "So, you are  
saying, I was asleep for about a  
week."  
"That's what I calculated it  
to be." she agreed.  
"And how is it I'm still walking,  
or even alive for that matter?"  
"I honestly think that my  
Fairy Tears are what helped."  
I stared at her blankly.  
"You've not heard about what they can  
do?"  
"I have absolutely no idea."  
I replied.  
As she explained the healing  
properties that Fairy Tears were  
said to have, I continued to try lifting the  
Bomb Flower, so that I could  
destroy a cracked wall that my  
companion thought might lead to a  
Great Fairy Fountain.  
Suddenly, my entire body went  
slack as the wall I was focused  
on blowing up slid open right in  
front of me. And on the other  
side was, nobody.  
Well, that was a bit  
anti-climatic, I thought.  
"Uh, if this is one of the fountains  
for the Great Fairies, then where is  
he, or she?" I asked Navi.  
"First, it's a she, and  
secondly, I don't know. I have  
not been here before."  
Someone's a little cranky, I  
thought.  
"Enter, young hero," a soft  
voice called in my head. "Come  
close, and receive a gift from me,  
the Great Fairy of Power."  
My mouth dropped open as I  
stepped tentatively into the area  
dominated by a pond of water that  
looked to be glowing.  
"Navi," I heard the Great  
Fairy greet.  
"Great Fairy," Navi  
answered.  
I could just barely sense the hint  
tension between the two. (I could only  
sense it as much as I did, because I  
could see one side.) My Fairy  
companion was glowering off into the  
distance, meanwhile, there was no sign  
of this Great Fairy of Power.  
"Come to the water's edge," the  
voice whispered, and I was almost  
pulled forward, to the side of the  
pond. "Now play for me."  
I blinked in confusion, looking  
down at the still surface of the water.  
"Play for you? Play what?"  
"Play a song, any song, for  
me. I know you hold with you an  
ocarina, an instrument often  
associated with musical magic."  
the Great Fairy replied. I  
looked over at Navi, who was  
staying behind, hovering several feet  
back.  
"What?" she asked.  
"Nothing."  
I pulled Saria's ocarina from  
its place in the pouch on my belt.  
After a quick contemplative moment,  
I decided which song would be best, and  
faced forward once more, placing the  
instrument to my lips.  
To start out with, I played slowly,  
the song taught to me by Impa,  
Zelda's Lullaby I think she  
called it. Then, as I grew more  
confident, I played a little faster,  
and a little louder. After a loop of the  
song, a soft breeze picked up,  
and stirred the surface of the pond  
before me, and a Fairy of immense  
beauty appeared before me.  
I was so stunned that I nearly  
missed the glare that Navi shot my  
way, and I almost dropped the  
ocarina I held.  
"Whoa," I whispered.  
"Welcome, young hero, to my  
spring." My mouth hung wide  
open, and I couldn't think to retort  
that I was no hero. "Do you require  
power in your veins?" the Great  
Fairy floated over to me on  
massive wings that looked like they  
belonged to a gigantic butterfly.  
"I," I stumbled over my  
tongue.  
"Shhhhh, you have no need to speak.  
I already know the answer." a blue,  
glowing hand was placed on my shoulder,  
and I just barely stayed on my feet  
as light began to course through me.  
"Link!"  
"Quiet, young Navi, or you will  
break the spell," I heard the  
Great Fairy hiss.  
"You're going to kill him!"  
After a moment of blurred  
dizziness, I found myself able  
to move, speak and do other things.  
Along with this, I felt, stronger.  
I felt more brave than when I  
had stepped into the fountain of the Great  
Fairy of Power. But, I also  
felt so strange.  
"What happened to me?" I  
asked.  
"I have imbued your body, heart,  
mind, and soul with magical energy.  
You are a much stronger Hylian,  
Link."  
"I, wait," I tilted my  
head, "how did you know my name?"  
"You might wish to seek out my  
sisters around the world. They will also be  
able to give you little upgrades like the  
one I have given you."  
I tried to ask my question again, but the  
Great Fairy merely began  
to vanish into the waters of her pond.  
"Link, did you know you're glowing  
still?" Navi fluttered over to me,  
and I looked down to notice a  
greenish glow running through my veins.  
"Well, now that that is done, let  
us go see the Zoras." I said.  
My voice, however, did not sound like  
my voice. It sounded more adult,  
more confident, more heroic.  
From that day forward, everything changed,  
and the change didn't come as I would have  
expected. It didn't come with  
something like, I don't know, me doing  
something a certain way, or anything  
like that. But, it came to me from the touch  
of a Fairy.  
I was starting to think I would be  
Hyrule's hero after all.


	26. Downstream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link is on his way to hopefully complete his quest, but things are never easy...

The next day, armed with a new,  
shield, this one called a Hylian  
Shield, I started out from Kakariko  
Village, saying my farewells  
to Dampe, Mishko, and Carter, and  
beginning the trek to Zora's  
Domain.  
I had been warned that the Zora people  
might not like an outsider coming into their  
territory, especially with the  
predicament of a missing Princess,  
but I had dealt with something similar  
with the Gorons, so I felt no need  
to worry.  
"You realize they could drown you,  
right?" Navi said as we walked out  
into Hyrule Field.  
"I am fully aware of that,  
thank you very much for the reminder." I  
responded, not turning to her.  
The trip to Zora's River did  
not take as long as I thought it would,  
and when we arrived, I was met by two  
fish-like men with bows, arrows at the  
ready, and women with spears raised.  
It would seem I was expected,  
which in all honesty, was not surprising.  
"State your intentions, Hylian  
boy!" one of the women ordered,  
pointing her spear at me. Somehow  
I got the feeling that she was very  
experienced with her weapon, and that  
I didn't stand a chance against her.  
"Come now, he's just a kid."  
one of the men replied, lowering his bow.  
"Don't get soft!" the women  
retorted. "Nobody is allowed  
down this way without express  
permission from the Zora King himself.  
Now, state your intentions boy!" she  
spat this last part at me.  
With the overpowered feeling still in my  
gut, I did the only thing I could  
think to do: I pulled out Zelda's  
Letter, and showed it to the group of  
Zoras brandishing their weapons at  
me.  
"A letter from the Princess of  
Hyrule," one Zora said, staring  
in awe at the paper.  
"You're a fool, you know that?"  
the first Zora woman spoke to me.  
Her voice had lost some of the  
hostility, but she still didn't seem  
to welcome me into their domain.  
"Is there a way I can get  
into the Domain for Zoras," I  
asked, feeling rather stupid just after I  
did so.  
"Why would you want to do that?" a  
Zora man asked, eyeing me  
curiously.  
"We heard from an anonymous  
source that you were having problems with your  
guardian, and a missing Princess,"  
Navi piped up.  
I thought that one of the Zoras would  
shoot her, but the only response  
I got was, "It's a Zora  
problem. We can deal with it." Then  
the group turned, and marched away.  
I slumped to the side, sighing  
in frustration.  
"Why do they have to do this to me? The  
letter said I was on her orders, right?"  
I asked Navi, holding up the  
letter for inspection.  
"It does," Navi agreed.  
"Why didn't they buy it?" she  
seemed as perplexed as I was.  
"You were explaining, awhile back,  
about that big war that happened a few  
years ago. Who was on the side of the  
victors?" I looked to my  
Fairy companion as she thought for a  
moment.  
"The Hylians won, and  
ultimately set a peace treaty  
between everyone,. Though, it was meant  
for the Gerudos, everybody signed  
it. The Gorons, and Zoras  
helped out the Hylians, so,"  
"You can think what makes us so  
rash, as to cut ourselves off from the world,  
including our allies, whom we could  
trust?" came a questioning voice.  
Glancing out into the middle of the  
river, Navi and I spotted a  
fish-like man standing on a little rock.  
His fin-like appendages hung almost  
limply by his sides.  
"Who are you?" I asked, tilting  
my head at him.  
"I am one of the few remaining  
Princes of the Zora people. My name  
is Zayden. You said you heard about  
our problem?"  
"Yeah. Darunia, of the  
Gorons, told us that something you  
own, as well as your Princess, have  
been swallowed by your guardian,"  
Navi reported.  
"Yes, that is true. Both  
events have happened, and we are very  
concerned for the both of them, Ruto,  
my sister, and Lord Jabu-Jabu."  
"What exactly happened?" I  
asked.  
Zayden looked thoughtful for a  
moment. "Follow me, I think I  
will let my father explain that bit  
to you."  
"Wait!" I called after him,  
as he jumped into the water, and used  
his fins like oars to swim down the  
river. He turned back to me with a  
questioning stare, and nodded.  
"Follow alongside me, and I  
will guide you to Zora's Domain."  
he called back, and started to swim  
again. And this time, he didn't turn  
back.  
A gentle tap on her shoulder  
brought Princess Zelda out of a  
trance-like state which she had been in for  
almost an hour. Beside her, with her  
usual placid expression, stood  
Impa, her Sheikah guardian, and  
more recently decided, her  
handmaiden.  
"Yes?" Zelda inquired of the  
woman before her.  
"I merely wished to report that  
I have returned from Kakariko  
Village, and my meeting with the other  
Sheikah." Impa replied.  
"Thank you," Zelda nodded.  
"Link has obtained the second of the  
three Spiritual Stones, and is well  
on his way to finding the third down in  
Zora's Domain." Zelda said,  
explaining what she had seen.  
Since he had left her several  
nights ago, Zelda had been  
scrying on Link, and keeping track  
of his progress. It wasn't  
necessarily the most heroic of  
ways that he did things, but he did  
get them done.  
"Very well," Impa nodded in  
return, then turned away.  
"Uh, Lady Impa," Zelda  
reached out to the Sheikah.  
"Yes Princess?"  
"Could I trouble you with another  
favor?"  
A mischievous sparkle appeared  
at the edge of Princess Zelda's  
right eye.  
"I would like to make a slight  
interference in the course of destiny."  
Out of breath, I came to a  
stop beside Zayden, who slowly  
approached a waterfall. Navi  
had taken cover under my hat, because  
it had started to rain, and I was getting  
thoroughly soaked. (Granted, it  
wouldn't have been any better if I  
swam all the way here.)  
I shivered, and looked at my  
Zora guide.  
"I know what you are thinking, and my  
answer is yes," the Zora prince  
said. "This is the entrance to Zora's  
Domain."  
"That actually wasn't my question."  
I responded, looking timidly  
at the waterfall. "My question was going  
to be, how do I get through that? Or,  
more importantly, how do I get  
through, without drowning?"  
"I am not quite sure, but what I  
am sure of is, you'll find a way  
through it, Mr. Hero," Zayden  
grinned mischievously, then dove  
underwater, and through the waterfall,  
into the domain of the Zora people.  
Just great, I thought, stalking back  
and forth, trying to figure out some way  
of getting through this obstacle.  
I can't breathe underwater, I can't  
swim, at least, not well, and there  
is no way that I can easily get  
inside.  
Unless '  
I pulled out my ocarina, and  
tentatively put it to my lips,  
thinking of what song to play.  
First, I tried Epona's  
Song, which had no effect on the  
water before me. Saria's Song had  
the same result, but then, when I  
started my final choice of music,  
it seemed the water began to gleam,  
almost signifying I was doing the right  
thing.  
It seems that a lot of places  
have been imbued with magic  
to recognize that one song because a lot  
of people like it, I thought as I witnessed  
something absolutely astonishing  
happen.  
Before me, the waterfall itself parted,  
opening wide enough to allow me  
passage, almost like a doorway  
into the depths of Zora's River.


	27. Zora's Domain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to look up, only to fall back down. Will Link ever get something easy thrown at him?

Panic flared deep inside me,  
and I struggled against the intense  
current that was pulling me deeper, and  
deeper under the water, and into Zora's  
Domain. I figured that's where I  
was going, but I didn't expect this  
rough, wet trip.  
Finally, however, I realized my  
clothes, and skin were still dry, and I  
stopped struggling. The panicked  
feeling remained, but it was slowly  
evaporating into a sense of calm.  
It felt like Navi and I were on an  
elevator, one encased in water.  
After what seemed to be hours of  
descending into the waters of Zora's  
River, the "elevator" came to a  
stop and the water in front of us  
parted to reveal a beautiful sight.  
Navi and I were standing inside a  
waterfall, peering out into a massive  
village, set up in what seemed  
to be a cave system. It looked  
like we had arrived in the throne room  
of the "village" cave system because,  
stalagmites rose from the floor  
to flank a throne with a Zora sitting  
upon it.  
A very unhappy Zora, who was  
glaring straight at me.  
"Who are you, boy, and why have you  
invaded our territory?" he asked  
sternly, staying seated.  
"Answer him!" Navi hissed  
at me when I did not reply.  
Finally, my legs propelled me  
forward, and like before, I knew what  
to say, but in actuality, I did  
not. Okay, that was vague, so let  
me say it like this: It was me talking,  
but not in my "normal" voice.  
"I am Link, the Hero of  
Hyrule. I have come to talk about  
your crisis. I would like to help,  
if I can."  
King Zora snorted, which sounded like  
water was coming out of his nose, "You, a  
mere child, wish to help retrieve  
my daughter from the bell of our  
guardian, Lord Jabu-JABU?"  
"You speak as if it is  
impossible. Granted, you wouldn't  
have heard of my feats, locked away  
in your underwater cave, Your  
Highness." I responded, as  
politely as I could manage. "I  
have relieved a curse on the Great  
Deku Tree, guardian of the  
Kokiri. I slew the king of the  
Dodongo, to help the Gorons."  
All the while, I purposefully  
left out the failures in those  
tasks.  
"And why do you seek to help us?"  
King Zora asked, keeping his gaze  
fixed on me.  
"I am on a quest to acquire  
all three of the Spiritual Stones."  
I replied, pulling the other two from  
the depths of the magical pouch on  
my belt. "As you can see, I have  
already obtained the Goron's Ruby,  
and the Kokiri's Emerald. All  
I need is the," I looked  
to Navi for assistance.  
"The Zora's Sapphire,"  
she mouthed.  
"Right," I cleared my throat.  
"All I require now, is the  
Zora's Sapphire."  
"Then you're out of luck," the  
king shook his head. "Among the things  
Lord Jabu-Jabu swallowed in  
his "rampage," shall we call it,  
along with my daughter, he ate the  
sapphire."  
Well, this part of my journey was  
turning out to be rather fun.  
"You said you took care of a  
curse?" King Zora interrupted  
my thoughts of failure. "A curse  
that was placed on the Great Deku  
Tree?"  
"Yes," I responded. "It  
was a curse of the arachnid type."  
"Yes yes, I don't care about  
that part. See," he leaned forward,  
and I got the feeling he meant  
to impart a secret to me. "I  
suspect that Jabu-Jabu  
swallowed something, before this whole mess  
started, which upset his stomach, and  
caused him to become this way. I  
also suspect, someone fed to our  
guardian, the thing that upset him."  
I turned to Navi once more, and  
our eyes met briefly. We had  
to have been thinking the exact same thing:  
This had to be the work of Ganondorf,  
just like everything else was.  
"I'll tell you what, Link."  
the king spoke up once again, leaning  
back in his throne, and stretching his  
fin-like arms and legs. "If you can win  
in a competition, against one of our  
best swimmers, I will allow you  
to help us in our time of need. In which  
case, you will travel inside the  
stomach of our guardian, and try  
to rescue my daughter, retrieve  
the Zora's Sapphire, and  
eradicate whatever is causing  
Lord Jabu-Jabu to run  
rampant. If you can win, and do all  
of that, then you may keep the Spiritual  
Stone of Water. Does that sound like  
a deal?"  
On the outside, I was hoping I  
looked brave enough to the king of the  
Zoras when I nodded. On the  
inside, however, I was panicking.  
"Then it's settled. You will face  
our champion tomorrow, at dawn."  
King Zora snapped his fingers, and  
our waterfall elevator began  
to ascend once more. The cage of  
clear liquid steadily climbed  
up, passing cave entrances, fish,  
and plant life on its way to the  
surface of Zora's River.  
Once on the shore, I looked  
at my blue Fairy companion,  
who hovered just in front of me.  
"How am I supposed to get  
the stone now?" I demanded of her.  
"I don't know how I'm going  
to win this stupid contest because I don't  
even know how to tread water, let  
alone swim!"  
I began pacing back and forth  
along the edge of the water, wringing my  
hands.  
"I don't know. There could be a  
way, but I'm not sure it's safe  
enough to try," Navi just stared thoughtfully  
at me, when I passed in her line  
of sight that is.  
"And what's that?" I asked,  
stopping before her again.  
"I have heard of a Fairy magic  
that can help with agility, which includes  
in the water, but I am not  
proficient enough in the use of magic  
to cast that kind of spell on you."  
"You're forgetting one crucial  
piece to that puzzle, Navi," I  
retorted. "and that is, I don't  
know how to swim, at all. I never  
tried when I was in the forests.  
Nobody did."  
"I'm sorry," Navi looked  
down as we said the pair of words  
simultaneously. Meanwhile, I  
flopped on the sandy shoreline of the  
river, my legs crossed.  
"I just," I started to speak, but the  
Fairy cut me off, landing on my  
shoulder.  
"I understand," was all she said.  
"What we will do is figure everything  
out tomorrow. Right now, you need sleep,  
because we have a long day ahead of us."  
I hadn't even realized that night  
had fallen, and clouds were flitting  
across the moon, blocking its light  
from view.  
"Wouldn't it be better to go to a  
village, or something?" I asked  
Navi, worried that the Stalchildren  
might come and feast on my vulnerable  
flesh while I slept.  
"Just sleep, Link, I will wake  
you up when it's time."  
The Fairy placed a gentle  
hand on my cheek, and I laid  
back, almost against my will, and closed  
my eyes.  
Moments later, I was fast  
asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, just thought I'd share with you a quick piece of news:  
> I am starting back in school very shortly, so if you, all of a sudden, don't see updates from me for several weeks, longer than the time between chapters now, then it means that I'm not able to write as much. So, be warned, it may happen...  
> Thanks, and hope you enjoy the story!!! I'm having LOADS of fun writing it!


	28. Zora Race

The sun peaked over a line of  
trees as dawn arrived. The sun's  
light pierced through the veil of  
sleep, causing me to stir.  
With no idea as to how I was going  
to win this test, I rose to my feet,  
and started for the waterfall elevator,  
Navi carefully perched on my  
shoulder.  
"Do you have but plan?" I asked the  
tiny Fairy curiously. "Like, how  
I'm going to survive, when I have  
no clue how to swim?"  
"Just relax, okay? It will take  
a moment for me to get used to this,"  
"Used to what?" I interrupted.  
Navi grumbled just slightly before  
answering, "Magic."  
"Fairy magic?" I asked.  
"No, Hylian magic!"  
Someone's in a cheery mood, I  
thought as the doors of water opened on  
the throne room of Zora's  
Domain.  
While I stepped out of the cage  
of water, Navi placed both of her  
tiny hands on my cheek. In my  
head I began to hear bits and  
pieces of what I guessed were  
spells, which disappeared before I could  
memorize them for later.  
"Link, Hero of Hyrule, it  
seems you have stuck to your word, and have  
appeared for the challenge against our  
champion at swimming." king Zora  
announced.  
"I have, Your Majesty." I said  
politely, stepping forward.  
"Then, meet your opponent," the  
king replied, and a door opened behind  
him, and a Zora wearing blue armor  
stepped out. For a moment, familiarity  
crept into my mind, but I could not  
tell who exactly the Zora was,  
because their face was covered by a mask.  
Bear in mind, I will not be with you  
during the race, a voice whispered  
in the back of my mind. After a  
moment I realized that it could only  
be Navi's voice.  
"Is it done?" I mouthed to her.  
She nodded simply, and lifted her  
fingers from my skin.  
"It's time, let the race begin!"  
And that's how I found myself  
flailing in a large pool of water,  
panic taking control of my body.  
Among the spectators, lined  
up along the water's edge, were the  
two male Zoras that had  
confronted me the day before, Navi,  
who seemed to be concentrating on  
something, and at the far end of the racing  
area, the Zora king himself, perched  
on an identical throne. (No,  
seriously, it looked exactly the  
same, height, color, everything.)  
"Racers, get ready to swim!"  
king Zora called out, and my  
opponent stepped up to the edge of the  
water.  
"Ready," he had said, and I  
followed the other racer forward.  
Then, I was here, trying to get my  
bearings as water splashed into my  
face while I flailed.  
How am I supposed to do this?!  
I thought in what I hoped seemed like  
a yell.  
Reach out, and push back, in the  
water, Navi's voice came  
to me. With luck, you'll be pushed  
forward.  
Luck? I questioned, darting a glance  
back at her.  
"Just go!" she mouthed.  
So I turned my attention back  
to the course ahead, only to be  
splashed by the Zora, who was quickly  
gaining the lead.  
Here goes nothing, I thought, and  
stretched my arms out, as far forward  
as they could reach, the cold water  
making me shiver all over, and I  
pushed back with all of my strength.  
The result was absolutely  
astonishing. As I lurched forward,  
I heard the crowd gasp.  
That was just before my head was submerged  
in the water, which seemed to start pulling  
me down.  
Struggling, I kicked out, hoping  
to hit who, or what, was preventing  
me from staying above the surface. As  
well, I was finding it increasingly  
hard to breathe.  
Navi, what is going on?! I  
thought. I received no response, not  
for several minutes. Then, finally '  
Are you okay?  
I am under the water, and I'm being  
pulled down, does it look like I  
am okay? I retorted.  
Before I heard her response,  
I felt the thing that was pulling at  
me, almost reverse, and I shot  
forward, and up.  
I grunted as my head hit  
something hard, and knocked it out of the  
way as my "flight," if you could  
call it that, continued.  
I broke the surface, and found  
that my arms were moving of their own  
accord, as if someone else was moving  
them for me, and I was swimming.  
A furtive glance behind me showed  
that Navi had her tiny teeth clenched  
in concentration as I reached the finish  
line before the other Zora could.  
This caused the crowd to go wild,  
and I wouldn't say, screaming that I  
was cheating, and other insults, was the good  
way to go wild.  
The king let this go on for just a few  
moments before raising his hands, and  
calling for silence.  
"It would appear that our friend here,  
Link, the Hylian boy, has  
bested the best of our swimmers,  
whether he used magic, or not. The  
fact of the matter is: He won the  
match." He paused to look me in  
the eye as I stepped out of the water.  
"Congratulations. Now I will  
fulfill my promise to you. Come  
with me, and I will tell you about our  
crisis in depth."  
We passed through a door behind his  
throne, Navi moving as fast as she  
could to catch up. Luckily, she  
managed to pass through the door before it  
closed completely.  
"Where are we going?" I asked  
tentatively.  
"I am going to introduce you to our  
guardian, Lord Jabu-Jabu.  
He inhabits our fountain." we  
moved through another door, and  
outside, if you could consider it as  
such. We had a vivid glimpse  
of the sky high above, but it looked  
distorted. It could have been the  
surface of the river, but that was just my  
thinking.  
"As I told you before, Ruto  
came here to feed him one day, and she  
was swallowed whole, as well as the  
fish she brought with her, and the stone."  
If that's the case, I thought  
to myself, walking over to the edge of the  
fountain, and looking out to find a  
massive creature swimming within.  
"Would you care to feed him?" king  
Zora asked, adopting a facade  
of friendliness that seemed fake.  
"What do you mean?" I asked,  
looking from the creature, to the king.  
"Just what I said. Would you like  
to feed him? He looks a bit  
hungry."  
"I guess I could," I stepped  
forward, and grabbed a passing fish,  
looking to the Zora for assistance.  
He nodded encouragingly, and I  
raised the fish, trying to get the  
attention of Lord Jabu-Jabu.  
The next thing I knew, Navi  
the small fish, and I were sucked  
into a whirlwind, heading straight for  
what I suspected was the mouth of the  
guardian of the Zora people.  
And then, we were in the bell of the  
beast. (A phrase I've heard  
before, but never gotten to use, until  
now, when it literally happened.)  
Outside Jabu-Jabu, King  
Zora turned, and began the walk  
back to his throne.  
Now that the boy clad in green  
was taken care of, he could get back  
to more pressing matters: Keeping more  
people from entering this place, and wondering  
what was wrong.  
It would take a lot of attention,  
and that's just what the king needed, and now  
had, with the boy inside of Lord  
Jabu-Jabu's stomach.  
He had not said good luck, nor  
had he said a prayer to the Golden  
Goddesses for the boy to succeed, because  
he knew he wouldn't.  
He turned to look at Lord  
Jabu-Jabu, swimming in the  
fountain, before turning a corner, and  
moving onto more important  
matters.


	29. Within The Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link has been thrust from his quest, into the belly of the large fish known as Jabu-Jabu, almost as if the Zora King wants to get rid of him entirely. But, Link is more tough than that. He seeks the lost Princess of the Zoras, and the Spiritual Stone passed down through the race, and won't stop until he's dead, or completes his task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see, and Writer's Block has relented enough for me to type this chapter out for you all! I hope you enjoy, as always!  
> While it is still a ways away, I'd like to know your opinion on something.  
> Should the story end the way it does after the credits of the game? Or... shall we put a twist in it? Comment your thoughts, and by the time we get there, the side with the most "votes" will get their w"ish."

"What is that thing?" I asked,  
laying on what I assumed was a  
floor within the stomach of Lord  
Jabu-Jabu. On my chest,  
Navi was following my gaze to a  
strange, floating, tentacled  
creature covered in electricity.  
"I think it's called a Biri.  
But, I could be mistaken for the Bari  
that'll probably be here too." she  
responded groggily.  
"Uh, Navi, you're not quite making  
sense," I said, picking her up,  
and standing, careful to avoid the floating  
death-trap.  
Under the assumption, if I did  
not provoke it, it wouldn't  
retaliate, I started to walk  
away, peering around curiously.  
"Bari, and Biri are, well,  
both can be sort of what you saw."  
She ran her tiny fingers through her  
blue hair, and looked up at me.  
"I think I may have hit my head  
on the way down here. So, I  
apologize if I'm not at the top  
of my game."  
I noticed a tinge of sorrow in  
both her voice, and her look, and  
I nodded.  
"So, what do you suggest?" I  
asked, examining our surroundings,  
and placing the fairy on my shoulder.  
We stood at the end of a  
corridor that had many twists and  
turns by the look of it. Behind me  
was the way I had come, sliding down  
the throat of the massive fish. It  
appeared I wasn't going to get out  
of here that way.  
No, I had to do some exploring.  
And while I was here, maybe I could  
find the Princess, and the Spiritual  
Stone.  
"I know that look on your face."  
Navi said.  
"Really? Have we been around each  
other that long?"  
"I've actually lost count of how  
long we have been bonded, but yes.  
I've come to know the looks you get,  
especially while on this  
adventure. I know that, just by look-  
at you, whatever I suggest, you'll not  
agree with it."  
"Well, what's your suggestion?"  
I countered, crossing my arms across  
my chest defensively.  
"My suggestion is to do what you were  
thinking." This shocked me as the  
Fairy flew down from her perch  
to flutter before my eyes. My arms  
went limp, falling to my side, and  
Navi's smile told me I was  
gawking.  
"Something doesn't feel right about  
this place," she replied. "I say  
we figure it out."  
"Glad we're agreed." I  
said, and started along the twisting hall  
again.  
I was very confused with the nature of the  
of the area, but after seeing the  
dungeon-like structure within the Great  
Deku Tree, the shock was  
dampened. What made the confusion  
come up again was the room we passed  
into next, a room with a murky pond  
in the center. As I started to pass  
the pond, several things happened at  
once.  
Navi cried, "Link! Watch  
out!" The surface of the pond  
rippled with the sound of something emerging  
from its depths. I was not quick enough,  
however, to block the flying  
projectile that hit me square in  
the face, with enough force to send me flying  
backwards into one of the walls.  
I groaned as more of the octopus-like  
creatures came up to join their friend,  
spitting rocks which bounced harmlessly  
off the membrane that made up the  
walls, floor, and ceiling of the  
fish I was inside.  
"What are those things?" I mumbled  
as the monsters submerged themselves again,  
satisfied that their prey was gone,  
presumably dead. Their rocks  
were deadly enough to kill, if hit in the  
right, or in my case wrong,  
place.  
"Those things are Octoroks.  
They live to surprise people before  
hitting them with the rocks that they  
spit out. Where they get the rocks,  
I don't know." Navi  
explained, coming to flutter beside me.  
I started to get to my feet,  
reaching inside my pouch, and pulling  
out my slingshot. I grabbed a  
couple of the seeds to use as ammo,  
but frowned.  
These wouldn't be able to pierce through  
the Octoroks, would they? As I  
contemplated the question, I examined  
my surroundings, looking for better  
ammunition.  
I found none, and sighed. Deku  
Seeds would have to do, but the next time  
I was in Kakariko, if I  
managed to leave this beast, I'd  
find better ammo.  
"What's wrong?" Navi asked  
as I was preparing to shoot at the  
creatures in the pond.  
"It's nothing."  
I had a plan to draw them out,  
then hit them.  
"Link, wait!"  
But, I calmly stepped toward  
the pond, my slingshot at the ready.  
As the Octoroks, three of them,  
surfaced one by one, I shot each  
in their eye, three quick shots, and  
they were sinking back into their murky  
water, and I was moving onward.  
Navi rushed to catch up as we  
exited the room, and came to another.  
Instead of a pond, at the room's  
center, stood a girl I quickly  
gauged to be a Zora. The Zora  
we had come here to rescue.  
It had to be Princess Ruto,  
and she looked more surprised than  
I felt, because I didn't expect  
the task to be that easy.  
As the Princess's shocked  
expression changed to a hint of  
anger, I knew it wasn't as  
easy as it looked.


	30. A Journey Through The Belly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coming across the Zora Princes; won't stop the journey for Link, even if she's a little, unhappy to have an uninvited guest within the guardian of the Zoras.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been long in the coming, and there's finally some more words for your enjoyment!  
> As always, hope you like!  
> And as a little disclaimer/reminder:  
> This story is written by someone who is blind. Some elements of the story are skewed due to either strokes of creativity, or the lack of details as to how they continue. As well, from here on out, deviations from certain things, like lengthy dungeons, with repetitive puzzles will happen more often.

"Who are you?" Ruto sniffed,  
straightening primly.  
I began to stammer that my name was  
Link, and the reason why I had been  
sucked straight into a giant fish's  
mouth, but she cut me off.  
"More importantly, what are you  
doing here?"  
After a quick glance between us, Navi  
and I came to a silent agreement  
about my story. I had to tell her the  
truth, at least as far as why I was  
here, I didn't need to share the  
information about the Spiritual Stone, not  
yet anyway.  
"Well, your father's been really  
worried about you." I started, looking  
from the Fairy to the princess. "And  
I offered to come down here to help you  
look for the Zora Sapphire."  
I mentioned the last part without thinking,  
but it did not phase her.  
"You, help me?" Ruto  
looked surprised. "And the  
Sapphire? What use could a  
kid like you have for a gem so  
important to the Zoras? What do  
you seek? Power, money?"  
There was no helping it. I had  
to tell her the rest.  
"Look, the short version is:  
I'm this Hero, and I have to get the  
Spiritual Stones, and the Sapphire  
is one."  
"You aren't the Hero!" Ruto  
scoffed.  
I scowled, feeling my temper  
rise. "I am the Hero!" I  
retorted, gritting my teeth.  
"Link," Navi whispered,  
fluttering near my ear.  
"You know what? Whatever,  
Princess, I'm going to find a  
way through this place. You can come with  
me, or you can stay here, searching on  
your own, but from what I saw of the  
"wildlife" here, I doubt you'll  
do very well." After I finished, I  
pushed by her, and entered the next  
room, which had a chasm in its  
center.  
And within the chasm were spikes.  
"Great," I muttered. "That is  
just great! There has to be something like  
this."  
"I think we need the Princess  
for this." Navi said, and only made  
my feeling of dread grow as she  
indicated two switches with her  
tiny, glowing hands.  
"Let me guess, someone has  
to hold down one of them?" I asked.  
Cautiously, I started for the  
closest of the two, and stepped on it.  
For a moment, nothing happened,  
and I looked at my Fairy  
companion in confusion.  
"Look down." she ordered, and  
I did, removing my boot.  
The switch was pressed down, and  
I could hear a slight rushing sound,  
a sound like water flowing.  
"I'm not even going to ask," I  
said as I looked over the edge of the  
pit. Within, the spikes were being  
obscured by a dark, murky liquid  
that looked like polluted water.  
"Please tell me, I do not have  
to swim in that?"  
A click brought my attention to the  
switch at my feet, which started  
to rise up once again, painfully  
slow, and as it rose, the water began  
to recede.  
"To get across, I think you might  
have to." Navi said, stating the  
obvious.  
With a sigh, I looked around for  
something heavy to hold down the switch.  
Then the question came to me, how fast can  
I swim?  
Can I swim at all?  
Pondering the question, I continued my  
rudimentary search. But, nothing  
appeared to be heavy enough. There were  
small rocks, but they wouldn't work.  
With a sigh, I came to one conclusion.  
"Ruto, could you please come stand  
on this?" I asked.  
She sniffed, and pushed me to the  
side, onto the switch. As the  
water level began to rise again,  
Ruto jumped into the air, her water  
colored dress billowing out around her  
as she flew forward. She looked  
almost beautiful as she arched herself in  
midair, looking like a fish preparing  
to dive, and she began to swim across  
the little crevice, leaping up and out,  
landing gracefully on the switch across  
from me.  
"Well, pretty boy, are you  
coming over?"  
Navi smiled, and I pulled  
my hat off, tipping it to the Zora  
princess as I put Navi beneath it,  
then back on my head. I leaped  
forward, not as gracefully as I would  
have liked, I might add, and a few  
seconds after I surfaced from the  
water, I blinked in surprise.  
There was no click.  
Maybe that's what the other switch  
did, I thought.  
I looked up as I moved my  
arms in a semi-circular arc, like  
Ruto did. Speaking of which, I  
saw her beside the switch, grinning at  
me as I flopped onto the other  
side of the crevice.  
"You really don't catch on to these  
things, do you?" Navi asked,  
twinkling as she flew from under my  
hat.  
"I was NOT born to be a hero."  
I retorted, leaving out the fact  
that I had originally been destined  
to live my life alone, and away from  
all but Saria, or bullied  
by Mido for an eternity.  
"Come on, then," Ruto said,  
walking to a door.  
Why am I even here? She can  
find her own way out. It seems she  
knows her Guardian inside, as  
well as out.  
Huffing, I slouched forward, and  
into the next room, with the next  
trial.  
An arrogant smile slowly  
began to play across Ruto's face  
as we continued through the dungeon within  
the fish, completing puzzle after  
water-themed puzzle, and I got the  
impression that the Zora Princess  
wanted to point out, once again, that she  
could get the Spiritual Stone on her  
own. I mean, she used me to press  
down one switch, or hold something  
in place, while the water level  
rose in a crevice, or something  
happened, that required Ruto  
to swim across, and hold down the  
other end, to secure the level in  
place. If she were to point out that  
I had almost no point in being here,  
other than because I was the Hero, on  
a mission to save the world, she'd be  
absolutely right. I wouldn't have  
any protestations, because, I couldn't  
protest against the truth.  
"What's wrong with me being here?"  
I had asked once, as we finished  
a rather annoying puzzle, including  
several Octoroks, which I somehow  
managed not to die from. I was  
attempting to find the reasoning behind  
Ruto's strange dislike of me,  
though I did not have high hopes for  
good results.  
"You're not a Zora. You do not  
belong here," was all she'd tell  
me, then she'd leap into the air, and  
into an area of water, avoiding  
me, but still leading the way forward.  
At first, I thought that this would be the  
easiest "challenge," I'd have  
to face, but that was before I saw the  
gigantic octopus, about to ambush  
Princess Ruto. I didn't  
even have time to warn her as it raised  
its tentacles, and dragged her  
downwind before she can even scream.  
In the same instance that us swallowed  
her whole, it spat a gigantic  
rock at me.  
Nope. I guessed, I'd never  
get the easy life, not while I was  
playing the role of the Hero of Time.  
"Yeah?" I challenged the  
massive Octorok. "You want  
a piece of me too?"  
Almost as if in response, it  
raised its tentacles, reaching for  
me.  
A braver part of me, the inner  
hero I supposed, smirked at  
this desperate gesture, raised my  
pitiful Kokiri sword, gripped  
in my child's hand, and prepared for  
battle.  
"If you're that hungry for  
Hylian, then you're gonna have  
to come get me, because I'm hate  
to disappoint you, but I can't swim."


	31. A Shocking Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A test is placed upon Link's shoulders as he helps a rather ungrateful Ruto in their mutual journey to stop whatever's plaguing Lord Jabu-Jabu.

"Link, you may want to be  
careful with this thing," Navi warned, as  
I took a defensive stance,  
watching the big Octorok  
carefully.  
"I just hope the Princess  
hasn't been chewed up, and  
digested," I responded, even as  
I heard the whoosh of rushing water.  
"No," Navi said. "Look  
around."  
The room I was in was basically  
an island. No, it wasn't  
completely surrounded by water, but,  
most of it was, which concerned me as  
I saw movement in the next room,  
and coming fast to aid the large fish.  
"Behind you!"  
Too late.  
I grunted in pain, and  
pin-wheeled my arms as I was  
propelled forward by the impact of a  
rock making contact with the back of my  
head. But, I couldn't stop my  
fall into the water, within tentacle's  
reach of the big Octo.  
Thankfully, for the both of us,  
Navi was unharmed, flitting around  
the ceiling, keeping well out of reach  
of any of the rocks.  
I was not so lucky, because I was  
almost immediately grabbed, and pulled  
forward, toward a gaping mouth, full  
of jagged teeth.  
"Oh, no you do not," I growled,  
thrusting my sword arm forward, and  
up, and stabbing into the roof of the beast's  
mouth.  
It seemed to scream in pain,  
closing it; mouth, with my sword still  
within.  
The tentacle holding me let go,  
and I was forced to keep a hold on  
the hilt of the Kokiri Sword as the  
Octorok thrashed around, hoping  
to dislodge the sharp object within its  
maw.  
"You want some more?" I taunted,  
gritting my teeth, and struggling  
to keep a grip on the blade.  
Come on, Princess, if you're  
still alive, please get out of there,  
I thought.  
Finally, I yanked the sword  
free of the monster, and managed  
to clamber from the water, to watch the  
Octoroks swarm around, and below me.  
This was not going to be easy, not with  
my inability to swim, and my  
uncertainty of the depth of the water.  
All I could do was stand, and fight.  
From my back, I took the  
Hylian shield, and I held it  
aloft, preparing myself for an attack  
from any of the opposing Octos, but the  
attack never came. Not from any  
side.  
However, I noticed an inner  
struggle in the largest of the beasts.  
Something, possibly Princess  
Ruto, was try- to get out.  
No, I corrected myself, not  
probably. It was Princess  
Ruto. It had to be.  
Heroic instincts kicking in yet  
again, I leaped forward, attempting  
to assist the Zora by assaulting  
the Octorok from without.  
Come on, Princess, I thought,  
hacking at the flesh of the creature.  
I stabbed, and slashed at the  
Octorok, but it seemed unaffected  
by my attacks, but Ruto's  
escape made it mad.  
Ruto leaped from the creature's  
mouth, and landed with grace, on land,  
and out of harm's way. All the  
while, I continued attacking the  
Octorok.  
Finally, I clambered out of the  
water as my opponent dove down,  
back where he came from.  
I got the impression that that was not  
the last I would see of that specific  
Octorok.  
"This way," Ruto said curtly,  
standing, brushing herself off, and leading  
the way to a massive door made  
of what looked like fish flesh.  
"At's behind that door?" I  
asked.  
"Well," Ruto turned to me,  
placing her back against the portal.  
"If you're really the Hero of Time,  
like you claim you are, then you will have  
to prove it, not to my father, not to the  
guardian of the Zoras, but to me.  
Fight what's beyond this door, and  
retrieve from it, the Spiritual Stone  
of Water, the Zora Sapphire,  
and it is yours." With that, she stepped  
to one side, grabbed the knob, and  
revealed to me the room within.  
"What will your choice be?"  
Ruto asked, starting in, not  
noticing something rippling the surface  
of the water in the middle of the room.  
Something tugged at the back of my  
mind, something telling me this would begin  
like the last fight did.  
"I," I started to speak, but just  
then, breaking the surface was the  
biggest of the creatures named Bari,  
and Biri, with electricity  
encircling it completely.  
"That is a big Bari," Navi  
said, speaking my thoughts.  
"That," Ruto said, gesturing  
to the beast. "is Barinade. The "king"  
of the Bari, and the Biri. Defeat it,  
and you will have the Zora Sapphire."  
I got the feeling it would not be that  
easy. Nevertheless, I checked my  
weaponry: Slingshot, with a few  
Deku Seeds as ammunition,  
some Deku Nuts, usually used  
for blinding foes, a Deku Stick,  
and my sword. The question was, what  
would be able to harm this thing?  
I hadn't noticed it before, but as  
I entered the chamber, I felt,  
more than heard, the hum of all that  
electricity, and the danger of this  
fight truly sunk in:  
I could not enter the water, or I  
would be completely fried, worse  
than if Death Mountain had erupted  
right on top of me.  
"Link, look!" Navi pointed  
a tiny, blue, glowing finger across  
the chamber to where a crescent-shaped  
item lay.  
"What is that?" I asked her.  
"I think your Lord  
Jabu-Jabu's had quite an interesting  
diet." Navi addressed Ruto.  
"That," she turned back to me "is  
a boomerang."  
"One of the Zora shopkeepers  
decided to try one of his new  
boomerangs, to see if he could  
retrieve the Zora Sapphire.  
It's built to withstand all sorts of  
damage, built to be almost  
unbreakable."  
"Almost?" I asked, but the  
Princess ignored me, other than  
to usher me forward.  
The humming of Barinade seemed  
to grow in intensity as I stepped  
forward. It was almost like the creature  
was saying, "Oh? Meal time? Or  
electrocution?"  
Come on, Link, focus, I  
told myself, skirting the ledges of the  
room. I couldn't help but shake,  
though whether it was out of fright, or these  
strange heroic bursts I've been  
having, I couldn't quite tell.  
Here we go.  
I leaned down, and grabbed the  
boomerang, inspecting it carefully.  
Little did I know at the time, this would  
be the weapon that destroyed that  
electrical monstrosity.  
"Come and get me," I taunted  
Barinade, knowing that the beast couldn't  
understand Hylian, or, not that I could  
tell.  
Time to see how this thing works, I  
pondered, cocking my arm back,  
preparing to throw the boomerang like  
I'd heard people were supposed to do.  
I let it fly, aiming for the  
creature, hoping something can be  
managed with the attack.  
The thing was caught, and pulled  
toward me, almost like a thick spider  
web was attached to the weapon.  
Sparks coursed along it as  
Barinade drew closer, and I  
pulled free my sword, and lashed  
out, cutting at the fish. It cried out  
in pain, squirming, and trying to get  
away. Finally it managed to do so,  
and it dove into its deadly home of  
water and electricity, in what I  
could only guess was an attempt  
to wait for me to go away.  
Not a chance, I thought, circling  
the "pond."  
I wondered what the effect would  
be after throwing the boomerang into the  
depths of Barinade's hiding  
place. The charge from the beast had  
done nothing to the weapon, nor me when  
I grabbed a hold of it again, so I  
gathered it would be safe to try.  
Are there limitations? Or,  
rules? I thought, looking at the  
crescent the boomerang was shaped  
into.  
What would cause not to return  
to me like it did?  
Come on, Barinade.  
It leaped into the air, sparks  
trailing behind it as it tried to attack  
me, an electrified tentacle  
reaching out and grabbing my sword.  
What shocked me, no not literally,  
yet, was that Barinade began to pull  
me forward, and my footing became  
precarious as I teetered on the  
edge of my enemy's battlefield.  
"Link!"  
I heard Navi's call,  
and Ruto's gasp of horror as  
I wrenched the sword free, and  
threw the boomerang again. Though,  
this cost me my balance, and I fell  
onto my back, gasping for breath.  
That was too close, I thought.  
This time, when Barinade was dragged  
forward, it was slower, and the jellyfish  
was struggling, and I had to hurry  
to get in another attack before it  
squirmed away, and back into the  
water, almost as if it able to heal itself  
in the sparking depths.  
"Do you think your Fairyboy can  
defeat Barinade?" Ruto asked  
the fairy floating just within the  
doorway to the chamber where Link  
fought the king of the Bari and the Biri.  
"He's faced a few other  
challenges in his journey to acquire  
the Spiritual Stones, even almost  
getting himself killed by detonating a  
Bomb Flower to kill the king of the  
Dodongos." Navi explained.  
"So, I have a lot of faith in him.  
Just like Princess Zelda."  
Ruto nodded, and a slight smile  
crossed her face as she watched  
the Hylian, thought to be Kokiri,  
fight the creature angering the  
Zora guardian. "Does he  
realize?" she asked after a long  
moment of silence.  
"I don't think anyone would  
realize," Navi replied. "Not  
with the Zoras keeping that bit of  
information to themselves, until they see  
fit to announce it."  
"I never thought fate would bring me  
a boy like him," the Zora princess  
said, not listening to what would have  
otherwise been considered an insult.  
Navi observed the "rinse and  
repeat" method Link was using,  
throwing the boomerang, and snagging it  
on Barinade, and pulling it toward  
Link, who would then be able to get off  
a slash or two on the creature  
before it would dive down into its depths,  
and resurface a moment later  
allowing for the process to begin again. It  
was a plan that seemed foolproof,  
until Link overestimated, and the  
electrified jellyfish was brought  
on land, just barely making contact with  
Link's free arm, just as he began  
his assault.  
A cry of pain emitted from  
Link's mouth, even as he delivered  
the killing blow, and dropped to his  
knees, gripping his singed arm.  
As the Zora and the Fairy raced  
to his side, Link smiled up at  
them, and whispered, barely containing his  
pain, "Well, this is getting a little  
old."  
And as the young hero fell  
unconscious, the last action of the  
dying Barinade was to choke out the  
blue spiritual stone, the Zora  
Sapphire.


	32. The End Of the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Objective complete: The Zora Sapphire acquired, it's time to head to the Temple of Time.

When I woke next, I was  
bobbing in the water just outside the  
great Lord Jabu-Jabu, with a  
pair of familiar figures  
nearby, one circling %my head,  
and the other holding me above the  
surface of the Zora Fountain.  
Night had fallen, and the water was  
cold against my clothing, making me  
shiver uncontrollably. Near  
Jabu-Jabu, I could just make out  
in the moonlight, a strange log,  
something scrabbling along it.  
"Look who's finally awake?"  
Princess Ruto smirked at me,  
her hands gently squeezing my  
shoulders.  
"What happened?" I asked.  
"Besides your near death  
by electrocution, due to Barinade's  
attack? Well, the guardian  
gave us a ride out of his stomach,  
and he's very thankful for the elimination  
of the beast causing him problems. My  
father has not noticed our return quite  
yet, but that will soon change."  
Ruto explained. After a long  
moment of silence, RUFFO let go  
of my right shoulder, and reaching into a  
pocket I wouldn't have guessed  
she'd have.  
"By the way, I believe I owe  
as something." she replied, pulling out  
a watery blue stone.  
"Thanks," I said, flinching as  
I reached out with my injured arm. The  
water wasn't doing anything to heal the  
wound, but I was not going to be able to do  
anything about that for now.  
"Well, Fairyboy, are you  
going to accept?" Ruto asked.  
I reached out again, this time with my  
unharmed arm, and gently took the  
Sapphire, completing my journey.  
"You know," Ruto began, pulling  
me along as she swam for the shore  
of the fountain. "my mother once told  
me of the true purpose of the Zora  
Sapphire. At least, to the  
Zoras, outside of the hero's  
duty."  
"Oh?" I asked, tilting my  
head. What could she be aiming at?  
"What do you mean?" I asked,  
trying to puzzle her meaning through.  
"The Zora Sapphire," she  
leaned forward, her voice lowered to a  
whisper. "is often considered to be the  
engagement ring for? Zoras."  
My face felt like it was suffering  
from the heat of Death Mountain again, and the  
fire-breathing creatures it held  
in Dodongo's Cavern, because my  
cheeks flared a deep red as this  
was revealed. Meanwhile, Princess  
Ruto helped me onto the shore,  
uncontrollably laughing at, not  
only my expression, but having  
dropped that Bomb Flower of news  
on me at such a moment.  
"I'm going to return to my father  
now," she said, once she regained  
her composure. "I will let him know  
of your deeds, and the reward I have  
granted you." She leaned down, and  
helped me to my feet, where I  
swayed, just barely keeping my  
balance after my encounter with Barinade.  
"And thank you, Link."  
And with that, she disappeared back  
into the main area of Zoras Domain,  
leaving myself and Navi where we were.  
"Link," Navi said  
tentatively.  
I had to keep myself together. I could  
not let this new piece of information  
bother me.  
But, after what I'd been told  
of my role in the events of the past  
few days, and the events I  
suspected were still to come, what was I  
to do? How could I just tell the  
Princess of the Zoras that I could  
not do anything, not while I had this  
big destiny to fulfill.  
"Link," Navi said once more,  
catching my attention with a gentle touch  
on my shoulder.  
"Yeah, uh," I cleared my  
throat, surveying the fountain,  
cloaked in the shadow of the night.  
"I," I stopped, realizing I  
didn't know what I wanted to say.  
"There are a few things, after  
surveying the area, that we might be  
able to get. The Zoras also took  
part in hiding little, upgrades for the  
hero, when he came."  
"I'll consider that a thank you  
gift from the king, after," I scowled  
in the general direction of the throne  
room, and the Zora king, and Navi  
nodded.  
"I'd think of it like that too,"  
she replied, then gestured out near  
Jabu-Jabu. "There's a little  
inlet, if you can call it that, over  
there. One of the older Fairies, the  
Great Fairies, is nearby."  
"How can you tell?" I asked,  
dropping back into the cold water.  
"It's just, a residue of magic  
very close by." Navi explained.  
I pulled myself from the fountain, and  
examined a large boulder before me,  
blocking the entrance to, well, if  
the last time is how it would continue,  
and if Navi was right, another fountain  
holding another Great Fairy.  
This was the most obvious place,  
especially after last time.  
As I had no bombs, or  
Bomb Flowers on me, I had no  
visible way of entering this fountain, but  
Navi reassured me that the  
explosives weren't always going to be  
the answer to entering the fountains, so  
I inspected my arsenal carefully.  
"Do you think this boomerang could  
break through rock?" I asked,  
holding up the retrieved  
boomerang.  
"It's worth a shot, right?" she  
asked in response. So, I threw  
it, backing to the edge of the fountain,  
putting all of my strength behind the  
throw. (Using my uninjured arm, of  
course.) There was a crack, and the  
boulder seemed to start breaking as the  
weapon returned to my hand.  
Two more attempts, and? rock was  
completely demolished, revealing  
the path into the Great Fairy's  
Fountain, just as expected.  
"I am a Great Fairy of  
Magic of the Faron Province," the  
fairy greeted, rising from her  
fountain after all the ritualistic  
stuff was done. "For finding me, I  
offer to you, one of three Sacred  
magic spells, granted to the Hero  
of Time. I give to you, Farore's  
own courageous winds of  
transportation. May they guide you  
in your journey." the fairy spread  
her arms, and a warm feeling enveloped  
me. I looked down, and noticed  
a blue light emanating from my  
body. As the feeling disappeared,  
I noticed a lingering warmth in my  
arm, and the burns I had sustained from  
the electricity disappeared, leaving a  
simple scar in their place.  
As we made our way back through  
Zora's Fountain, and Domain,  
I noticed an eerie silence. And  
before we left via the waterfall  
leading out to Lake Hylia, I  
heard my name called.  
"Link!"  
I turned to see both the Zora  
King, and Princess Ruto standing not  
too far away. Other Zoras were  
watching from a distance, their gazes  
fixed on me.  
"I wanted to formally apologize  
to you for the way I acted before your  
entry into our guardians stomach.  
My daughter has told me of your  
deeds, and I think the reward, the  
Zora Sapphire is quite  
sufficient, as well as a warm  
welcome, if ever you pass through our  
waters again. Thank you for keeping our  
princess safe."  
As applause rang out through the  
domain, Ruto smiled at me,  
causing me to look down in  
embarrassment, remembering what she  
had revealed about the Zora  
Sapphire.  
The next day, we were in Hyrule  
Field, making our way to the castle  
when Navi pointed something strange out  
to me.  
"Look, the drawbridge!"  
As I heard the distant rumbles of  
thunder, I noticed what Navi had.  
The drawbridge leading to Castle  
Town, and Hyrule Castle, was  
up, despite it being day time.  
"What could be going on?" I  
asked, approaching the blocked  
entryway.  
"There's no telling." Navi  
followed, as more thunder boomed around us,  
and the first drops of rain began to pelt  
us.  
"Lower the bridge!" came a  
familiar voice from behind the gate,  
followed by the sound of a galloping  
horse coming to our ears. "For the sake  
of the Goddesses, guards! Lower the  
bridge!"  
"Impa?" I meant it more as a  
statement, but it came out a question,  
and Navi nodded.  
There was a tense urgency in  
Impa's call as the bridge began  
to lower. Before it was fully laid across  
the moat, a white horse came  
riding passed us, on its back  
were the Sheikah, Impa, and  
Princess Zelda.  
The latter spotted me, and as  
the pair passed us, I caught the  
glimpse of something flying through the  
air, flying away from Zelda's  
outstretched hand, and the object landed  
with a small splash in the water below.  
"What did she throw?" I asked  
Navi, peering into the moat  
curiously.  
"I'm not sure." she  
responded, also looking into the murky  
depths.  
"I guess there's only one way  
to find out, huh?" I stepped close  
edge of the moat.  
"Link, be careful."  
"Out of all the things I've done  
in the past several days, this is the  
least dangerous," I said, then  
leaped into the water, taking a deep  
breath as I went under in search of the  
object thrown by the Princess of  
Hyrule.  
I felt around in the muck at the  
bottom, searching to no avail.  
Where was it? I could have sworn to the  
Goddesses, it landed here! But, if  
that were the case, where was it?  
I gasped as I surfaced,  
empty-handed, trying to catch my  
breath before I re-entered the water.  
"Did you find it?" Navi  
asked, and in response, I showed  
her my hands, and she nodded. "Just, be  
careful." she said again before I dove  
down to search again.  
This time, as I was swept along,  
I felt something bump into my leg,  
then my arm, just floating underneath the  
surface.  
It was a flute-like instrument, much  
like the ocarina Saria had given to me  
before I left the forest. But, this one,  
I suspected, was shiny, however I  
could not tell with the mud covering it.  
Hoping this was the item Zelda  
wanted me to find, I resurfaced,  
and clambered out onto land, taking  
a moment to lay on his dirt, rain  
pelting hard on, and around me.  
Finally, I pushed myself to my  
feet, and showed Navi the item I  
had retrieved, an ocarina,  
covered in muck, which I began to rub  
away. This task only took a  
few moments.  
"Link?" Navi said, her mouth  
dropping open in surprise, and  
recognition, as I wiped the last  
of the muck free. "I," she paused,  
unsure how to continue.  
"What is it?" I asked,  
looking from her to the now cleaned  
ocarina.  
"I know what that is, and I think  
we should get to the Temple of Time  
before it's too late."  
I had no idea what my fairy  
companion was talking about, and to question her  
I had to jog after her as she began  
to fly toward Castle Town.  
"What are you talking about?" I  
asked her.  
"Princess Zelda sent you  
to retrieve the Spiritual Stones of  
Fire, and Water, after you  
retrieved the one from the dying Great  
Deku Tree. She said you're the  
Hero of Time," Navi began  
to summarize.  
"Which I still doubt." I  
murmured.  
"So," she continued as we moved  
across the bridge. "Zelda had the  
last piece of the puzzle, to prove  
that you're the Hero of Time, once and for  
all, the Ocarina of Time, the ocarina  
you are holding. The instrument that will  
open the doorway into the Sacred  
Realm, and lead you to the Master  
Sword."  
"What are you talking about?" I  
asked.   
Suddenly, I gasped, and tried  
to stop, but my momentum carried me  
forward, and I slid, right into a  
familiar, man standing at the edge of the  
bridge.  
We collided, and I was sent  
sprawling, nearly toppling into the  
moat, again.  
"You're gonna want to watch  
where you're going, kid," the man said  
coldly, looking down at me.  
I remembered him all too  
well, his ominous posture, and those  
his piercing gaze.  
I had just met the king of the  
Gerudo, who I had not seen since  
I talked with Princess Zelda.  
I had just run, quite literally,  
into Ganondorf.


	33. The Door Of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected series of events leads to injuries, and the goal is finally reached.  
> But, what will become of the Hero of Time? Was the "ritual" of drawing the Master Sword done incorrectly?

In an instant, I was back on  
my feet, with my hand at the hilt  
of the Kokiri Sword, my body  
tense. But, the man, Ganondorf  
from what I remembered, fixed me with  
intense eyes, almost forcing my hand  
away from my sword. But, I did  
not release my grip.  
"Don't even think to stand against  
me, boy, you will not stand a chance.  
My place isn't with you," he  
pushed me to the side, and looked off  
in the distance, after the white horse  
I hoped was long gone by now.  
"I'm searching for the Princess."  
Finally, almost as if a spell had  
been broken, I drew the sword,  
and readied to attack the man.  
I leaped at his back, but he  
seemed to expect this, turned, not  
even drawing the sword at his belt,  
and punched me square in the face,  
sending me flying back. Not paying  
attention to the pain, I rose, and  
rushed forward, and slashed. But, this  
was anticipated, and I was knocked  
to the ground a third time, tripped  
by Ganondorf.  
"Don't get in my way,  
foolish boy!" he snarled, kicking  
me, causing me to cry out.  
"Link!" Navi tried to fly  
to my aid, but Ganon merely  
grabbed her from the air, and threw her  
down next to me. He raised a  
boot in preparation to stomp the  
helpless fairy, a merciless gleam  
in his eyes.  
"No!" I cried, snatching  
Navi to me, but I couldn't reach.  
My pulse raced, and my heartbeat  
was crashing in my ears, the taste of  
blood in my mouth.  
"I'm warning you, don't start a  
fight you know you can't win. I was  
merciful this time, and when I see you  
next, if you oppose me, I will not  
be so lenient."  
Fairy and all, I was dumped  
into the moat as I succumbed to my  
wounds, and fell unconscious. (Which  
I was starting to dislike, a lot.)  
Matters taken care of,  
Ganondorf glowered down at the  
boy, and stalked off in search of  
Zelda.  
After the Gerudo thief began his  
futile pursuit of the Princess of  
Hyrule, Navi roused herself, and  
flew toward the guardhouse, looking  
for someone, anyone, to help Link,  
help her get him to the Temple of  
Time.  
The Temple of Time, where everything  
would be revealed to everyone, whether the  
young Hylian was the Hero of Time,  
or not.  
But, they had to get to the Temple!  
Why did he spare us? Why did  
he not cut Link's throat open, and  
crush me under foot?  
No, she told herself. You can't be  
thinking about that, that's far from  
important, especially right now.  
"Please, help me!" she  
called out, looking for anyone.  
Castletown was very quiet, its  
usual bustle gone, and most of the people  
that wandered the streets within buildings,  
taking refuge. Carts were  
overturned, and horses roamed  
freely, reins dangling, starting  
at the smallest of things.  
What really happened here? Navi  
thought, entering a small shop.  
"Will you help me?" the fairy  
asked of the storekeeper. She looked  
to her, restocking some shelves.  
"What do you want, fairy?" she  
asked.  
"My companion has been beaten  
by the man who fled from here," I hope  
I'm assuming correctly. "I  
need to get him to the Temple of  
Time, immediately." Navi flitted  
around the front of the shop anxiously.  
"I'm afraid I can't help  
you."  
She searched several shops, asking  
man and women, child and adult, anyone  
that could help, but all declined,  
except for the strange man in the  
Happy Mask Shop. The smiling  
shopkeeper nodded, and told her  
to lead the way, so she did.  
"Please, be okay Link," she  
whispered as they came to the edge of the  
moat where Link floated on his  
back. Once he was on land,  
Navi fluttered down, gently  
laying her hands where the wounds were the  
worst, thanking both the man, and the  
Goddesses that he was okay.  
"Navi," I murmured,  
swimming up through the pain, trying  
to open my eyes.  
I felt hands holding me up,  
helping me walk.  
Where are we going?  
"Don't worry, my dear boy,  
your fairy friend and I have you. You're  
going to be all right. Your wounds are  
already healing nicely." I could just  
barely make out the words, but the  
voice '  
The voice was familiar, but I  
couldn't quite think where I had heard it.  
"The Temple is this way,"  
came a more feminine voice.  
Navi.  
"What will we do, after we have him  
within his temple's walls?" asked  
the other voice.  
"I," a sigh. "I don't know  
yet. Nobody's told me how this,  
"ritual" is supposed to be done.  
I'm just a fairy, assigned to a  
Kokiri. A very," she trailed  
off.  
After a few long moments of  
darkness, the feeling of supported  
walking, and silence, I heard a  
door creak open, then I was leaned  
against a cool stone wall.  
I tried once again to open my  
eyes, and this time I could, if very  
slowly.  
"How do I look?" I asked  
the two standing, well one standing, before  
me.  
After an attempt to focus on  
the figures, I was forced to shut my  
eyes, due to the blinding light in the  
chamber.  
The room was large, and bright, I  
could tell that much was obvious.  
Sunlight streamed through high windows,  
and this was reflected off of the white  
walls, almost impossibly  
reflecting its own reflections.  
The storm that had occurred during my  
short encounter with Ganondorf was  
gone, and the sun's light was  
surprisingly strong.  
At one end of the room stood a  
massive stone slab, with three  
holes, and a carpet bearing the crest  
of the Hylian Royal Family.  
So, this is the Temple of Time.  
The first question I had was why it was  
named as such, and not something like, the  
Hylian Temple. Maybe just the  
Temple of the Goddesses.  
Finally, I could focus properly  
and I recognized the man standing beside  
Navi's hovering blue form.  
"You're the man from the Happy  
Mask Shop," I noted.  
"Yes," he said, cracking a  
small smile.  
"Thank you," I se, trying  
to straighten up, but falling back  
against the wall.  
"No need to thank me, my dear  
boy. Just, if you can, I'd like a little  
favor if you don't mind, when this  
is all over, whatever this is." he  
chuckled, turned, and was gone.  
"So, what do we do now?" I  
asked, inspecting the room again.  
My gaze fell upon the slab, and the  
carpet before it, the holes looking just  
large enough to fit a small stone into.  
Large enough, and maybe  
coincidentally, the same shape as the  
three Spiritual Stones. The edge of  
one of the holes was colored a  
grassy, forested color, the next  
red like fire, and the third, blue like  
Lake Hylia.  
Is this where they go? Is this the  
purpose of the stones?  
Tentatively, I detached myself  
from the wall, and staggered toward the  
stone, reaching into my pouch, pulling out  
the Spiritual Stones. Gently, I  
placed them in place, and the ground  
began to rumble, just slightly.  
"Link?"  
How did I know what to do? I  
looked back at Navi, who wore  
an expression almost similar to what  
I must have been showing.  
"I think I know what to do." I  
said, pulling free the cleaned  
Ocarina of Time, and putting it to my  
lips.  
Almost as if I were not in control,  
I began to play a somber tune,  
not wavering like the old Link would have,  
instead growing more confident.  
This was my song. I didn't know  
how this must be, but it just felt, right.  
As the song finished, the great slab  
of stone, the source of the rumbling,  
began to swing inward, almost like a  
door, leading to the inner chambers of the  
temple. As if in a trance, I  
began to walk forward, through the door,  
and down a long hallway carved of  
stone.  
"Link, wait!" Navi hurried  
after me, and just made it before the door  
shut behind us with a thunderous boom.  
The next room we came to was  
circular, and there were steps leading  
down to a glowing pedestal made of  
marble. My focus was on the  
pedestal, and the object imbedded in  
it.  
Still in a daze, I walked  
carefully down the steps to stand before the  
pedestal.  
I cautiously reached forward,  
biting my lower lip, placing my hand  
against the hilt of the sword placed  
blade-down into the marble.  
"Link?"  
Navi's voice seemed too  
loud in the chamber, this seemed to be

a room that required complete  
silence. And while I had so many  
things I wanted to say, such as how  
insane this whole thing was, and how  
creeped out this silence made me  
feel, I was still under this strange  
spell almost, that kept me quiet,  
my hand at the hilt of the blade I  
could only guess was the Master  
Sword.  
But, then again, something deep within me  
told me for certain that it was the  
sacred blade that everyone talked  
about. The blade of Evil's  
Bane.  
My sword.  
If it's yours, "not draw it from the  
pedestal, a voice spoke from within  
my head. Take it into your hands, and  
become the Hero of Time. Save  
Hyrule from the darkness that waits  
to extinguish all light, and life from  
the land.  
Do you mean Ganondorf? I  
asked the voice, but I received no  
response. Nor did I need  
any.  
However, I still stood there, something  
keeping me back.  
Finally, with a deep breath, I  
began to pull, wrapping both hands  
about the hilt of the sword. With strength  
I did not know I possessed, I  
tried to take the blade from its resting  
place. I barely heard the small  
gasp of surprise from Navi as  
I began to glow, and a wind started  
to roar through my ears.  
Thoughts began to assault my  
mind, thoughts of people I knew, and did  
not know. Thoughts of Zelda, of  
Ganondorf, of a kind-looking,  
elderly man, of Gorons,  
Zoras, Hylians, and so many more.  
I tried to remove my hands from the  
Master Sword's hilt as it  
slowly came away from the pedestal,  
but they were glued to the weapon, a searing  
heat enveloping my entire body.  
I couldn't cry out as the pain  
came, and I staggered very slightly,  
but did not fall.  
What was happening?  
"Link!"  
Navi's voice, very faint, but  
urgent.  
Was something wrong?  
I couldn't speak, I couldn't  
move, and for a moment, I thought I was  
going to die. That I had tried  
to obtain the Master Sword, and  
failed, because I was not the hero, and this  
was the Goddesses' cruel way of  
telling me that my journey was all for  
nothing.  
But, something was strange about all  
of this.  
As my vision began to cloud, I  
saw a door of pure light opening,  
and someone help me inside.  
Where was the pedestal? I thought I  
was stuck to it, and the Master Sword?  
When had I removed myself, and the  
sword from it completely?  
And most importantly: Had I  
retrieved the sword of Evil's  
Bane?  
These were my last thoughts before I  
fell into a slumber unlike any  
other, a sleep so deep, that the sound  
of Bomb Flowers exploding in my  
ears wouldn't even wake me.  
And what a sleep it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This marks the end of the first part. You can expect the interlude soon!  
> This interlude will be something COMPLETELY original.


End file.
